Changing of the Guard
by blackbubbledancer
Summary: Rukia,and Shuuhei have been promoted and get sent on an odd mission together. Trust must be established and bonds will be made. How tightly will these bonds become and how fare will they go to protect each other once they have been established it.
1. Chapter 1

**So I deviated from the regular pairings I am trying something a little new to try and mix things up a bit reviews are always welcome and wanted as well CONSTRUCTIVE /no flames/ criticism is welcome and wanted too . I had fun writing this and hope you guys have fun reading it.**

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So, there were several great things about getting promoted to vice captain of squad 13 : One , Rukia could get things done in a timely organized manner . Two, when she had to work late she got well compensated. Three, she somehow managed to gain more respect from her brother. Four, she could listen to what ever music she wanted when she was working late or alone in the office and no one could tell her to turn it off and Five. . . Well there were a lot of reasons as to why she liked being vice captain especially for her favorite Taichou Ukitake of whom she loved like a father.

Today was one of those days she relished in being able to do her work alone with her music on .Home had been particularly silent because her Nii-sama had been in one of his moods . So work was a breath of fresh air because Ukitake let her keep a CD player in the office to use as back ground noise. When he was there it was always soft meditative music or the sound of running water .She knew her Taichou liked those sounds and, she wanted to make his work space as comfortable as possible when he was around the office. That was also another reason as to why she took the job was because she knew it would take a lot of stress off him. She knew he worried when he wasn't there that things wouldn't get done on time because of the constant bickering of his two former Lieutenants.

This morning everyone was out on a training mission so she got the office all to herself. Walking over to the CD player she flipped through her deck of CD's trying to find one that she wanted to listen to but, somehow all of her progressive Trans music had mysteriously disappeared. She knew her third seat had a particular dislike for it so as soon as she got them from the real world they usually ended up gone. She would having to make a note for herself to remind herself on her next mission to get some more and have Ichigo burn copies for her. She could keep them at the manor so she could pull them out when Akira got annoyed and tossed the original out. This would save her a lot of money on CD's in the long run and piss Akira off. This thought made her chuckle as much as she loved her third seat watching her get annoyed was also pretty funny too. She and Byakuya had the same vein that popped out there forehead when they got angry.

She continued to flip through the deck trying to find something that suited her because she was in the mood for something with a heavy drum and bass. Seeing one of her better loved CD's she pulled it out the woman who lead the band had an incredible voice and the backup seemed to fit her mood for noise that could drown out everything around her. With a gleeful smile she popped it in and turned it up loud and why did she turn it up loud . . . because she could. Another great thing about being a vice captain childish as it was she had some control over her very well controlled over life.

Walking back to her desk she smiled yet again because she could have all the Chappy stationary she wanted and no one could say a thing to her or make fun of her. Even better she could send Renji note's on little bunny stationary and there was not a damn thing he could do about until she got out of work. It was almost like a little break in her life for all the serious things she had to take care of at work, and at home she could now have little things around her that made her smile. So being as this was the case god help anyone who used or miss placed her Chappy coffee mug because that was the one thing she definitely couldn't leave at home because Byakuya promptly had the mugs thrown out when he found them. Sometimes it was like he had a sixth sense about when she would bring them home because they were gone before she even got a chance to take them out of the box and into the kitchen.

She looked at her desk and smiled, she had her coffee, her stationary, her stack of papers and her music. Finally sitting at her desk she looked at her itinerary for the week and let out a sigh there was a meeting tomorrow for the vice captains, she has to write out a training schedule for the next week. Taking a deep breath she got butterfly's in her stomach as she read that she was going to get to teach an upper division Keido class. She would have to start to outline her lesson because she had no idea what she was going to do, and how it would work. Rummaging around her desk she looked for her Chappy pens and couldn't find a single one. She searching every drawer it was odd she was usually more prepared than this. Plus it kind sucked when she had to get pens. The supply department kept the pens and paper up on the top shelves so she had to get a chair and sometimes set a book on the chair to get a hold of any one of those things on the shelve they were placed on.

Running her hands through her hair she sighed as she got out of her chair people were either steeling her Chappy pens or Akira was angry with her again the woman got a kick out of watching Rukia having to scale the cabinets to get to a normal pen. She shrugged then smiled a little smile a particularly catchy beat came on and she couldn't help herself she automatically started dance and sway her hips to the music as she got a chair and a large book.

No one was around so she could just cut loose and just dance it was also another thing she couldn't do at home because her Nii-sama would look at her like she was crazy ,and she wouldn't dream of doing in public because she was to self conscious ,and would start to blush and stumble all over herself. Now she could do it and not have to worry about any one laughing at her or look at her oddly.

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For some reason he just stood in the door way, and watched Rukia she was amusing to watched because she was just as particular as Kuchiki taichou. Even down to her organization everything on her desk was just so. It had its own neat little place and there was even a neat little coaster to put her mug on so she wouldn't stain the wood. What got him as he continues to watch her was how graceful and clumsy she was at the same time one moment she was swaying her hips in time with her music the other she was franticly searching for something around her desk knocking papers off in the process and letting out little irritated puffs of air .

It made him smile it had been so long since he had seen her. Even though they both spent a good deal of time with their mutual friend Renji their paths rarely ever crossed they didn't work near each other and their ranks for the last few years had been so far apart they never had a need to see each other .As well whenever he and Renji went out drinking or out with everyone else her brother had such a tight hold on her she usually wasn't allowed to go out with them.

He leaned against the door way now and frowned she looked different then from the way he remembered she did, she was still short but there was something else. He couldn't put his finger on it but it was obvious to Shuuhei that something was different .Perhaps she was less timid or shy he didn't know. It intrigued him though as he watched her puff a piece of hair away from her face and stand shaking her head in dismay then just as quickly smile .

He heard the song switch and suddenly she started to sway her hips with the beat of the music it made sense now why she was smiling. As she started to move he couldn't help but notice she had good rhythm. The second thing he noticed that took him by surprise was she was listing to music, actually modern music with a modern beat. It wasn't a sound he herd often anywhere around here none the less the offices of the Seireitei this struck him as odd but everything about this girl stuck him as odd. She wasn't like the other women of the Seireitei she didn't giggle or go out drinking like Matsumoto she never worse skirts or dress's she was plain and nondescript . Perhaps that is often times why he looked over her for the simple fact she just blended in so well. He shrugged to himself as he was about to watch a disaster in the making as he watched her put a rather large book on precariously wobbly chair up next to a tall shelve .

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Rukia HATED having to use step stools and books to get up to a place where there was something she needed especially something as simple as a bloody pen. Thankfully she had fairly good balance and she didn't have to worry about falling. Not really paying attention to what stool she was using she continued on her in her little grove pausing only for a moment to look for the biggest book she could find to set on the stool. She found a huge book and, when she looked at the cover she couldn't help but laugh it was one of the many rule books for her squad .Some days it simply marveled her as to how many rules this place had. Between rules for the guard and rules at home she was surprised she didn't live her life afraid of her own shadow for fear if it didn't follow the rules and deviated from where it was supposed to be when the light shinned down on it there would be some horrid consequence.

She set the book on the chair and leapt gracefully onto the top of the book again scaling a chair and a book to get to her pen's this was ridiculous . Setting herself lightly on the book she stretched herself up on her tip toes to grab the container of pens , but as she reached up she felt the chair and the book wobble 'oh god' she thought as her hand grabbed hold of the pen container 'this is going to hurt.'

She felt herself fall back and heard the book fall on the floor with a resounding thump and the pens scatter all over the place. Cringing and closing her eyes she braced herself for the hard impact of when she hit the ground. Thankfully no one was around and it would only be her back that would be bruised and not her ego, but the impact of the floor never came in fact she felt like she fell into a set of arms .A much more pleasant feeling, but whose arms?

Cringing slightly did she really want to open her eyes and see who saw her look like such a dork. Resigning herself that this person was mysteriously not going to know who she is was she slowly opened her eyes . When she did she was temporarily stunned and had to pause. Looking down at her was one of the most intense pair of slate grey eyes she had ever seen it almost took her breath away. All she could blurb out was

"You're not Nii-sama," at that she put her had quickly over her mouth and blushed profusely. "Oh god" she looked away from the set of eyes to view the persons who's arms she was in.

"Nope" there was definite amusement to his voice "I am certainly am not your Nii-sama." This brought a full fledged laugh out of him.

Searching the face once more she saw a tattooed 69 on the man's cheek and a blue tattooed band across his cheek and nose.

"Shuuhei?" she wrinkled her nose slightly confused now "What are you doing here?"

He set her down gently watching her rectify herself and brush herself off. She tilted her head to the side almost looking confused "And why are you wearing squad nines captains' haori? Halloween was a few months ago did you and Renji make an odd bet? "

He still couldn't keep the amusement from his voice "Well hello to you too, it has indeed been a while since I have seen you and by the way you're welcome for catching you." She could feel the blush start to creep up on her face and felt like even more of a dork then before.

" I am so sorry for my rude behavior." She bit her lip truly embarrassed "and thank you for catching me it would have sort of hurt to connect with the ground."

He nodded in agreement and looked over her seriously.

"And if it's Halloween for me, it is for you as well." He motioned to her sleeve where her vice captains band was.

It was her turn to look him over taking in his squad nine haori mixed with the tattoos on his face it looked just about as odd as Renji with the squad three haori.

She pursued her lips looking almost as closed off as her brother ."It's just odd to see you and Renji as captains, my apologies Shuuhei Taichou."

"As to why I am here Lieutenant Kuchiki I wanted to formally present myself to Ukitake Taichou seeing as he was sick at our ceremony."

At the mention of her Captain she thought about how sick he had been the last few days she was really quiet worried "I will tell him you called on him when he returns to the office in a few days." She noticed a note in his hand and looked back up to him quirking an eyebrow."Do you wish me to pass anything on to him?"

He looked down at the note and shook his head briskly. "No that is quiet alright Lieutenant, I will present this to him myself when he comes back to the office."

She arched her eyebrow at his business like air it was odd for someone not to trust her with something it almost stung her pride that he would think she was just another nosey Lieutenant. She mentally shrugged this off he really didn't know her any way so he really shouldn't know her mannerisms.

She watched him take one long look around the office with mild amusement there was paper and pens all over the place and it did look like her office exploded n. Shuuhei bending down he pickup a pen

"I believe you wanted one of these."

She took the pen and turned as red as beet.

"But that is all I wished to discuss Lieutenant Kuchiki." With that she watched him turn gracefully much like her Nii-sama or Kaien would and walk out the door.

God that thought was disturbing her Nii-sama and Kaien rolled into one thought.

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He walked out of squad 13 a little more confused than when he entered it; it had truly been a long time since he had seen Lieutenant Kuchiki. It was odd to call her Lieutenant he had remember her from academy as Rukia-san the quiet shy girl that had entered the academy the same time as his good friend Renji. They couldn't have been more different, and his friend had always been fiercely protective of that woman. Looking at her today he couldn't see why she held her self exactly like Kuchiki Taichou same stiff back same cool demeanor. The only thing he could never see the captain of squad six do was fall off a chair or anything for that matter.

He really thought about it as he walked down the corridor back to his squad he knew nothing about Rukia, and what he knew he only knew by reputation. Well she had two different reputations that she was known by. The first one he had always known was from what his friend had told him , that she was care free and happy what you would call a free spirit and stubborn as hell , he also said she was unforgettable once you took one look into her eyes . His friend had always praised her violet eyes saying that he could look into them for days and for that sheer fact women like Matsumoto had nothing on her. That one Hisagi would strongly disagree Rangiku was just plane hot who cared about her eyes when a woman had body like that. However he could see where his friend did have a point the woman did have unusual eyes that definitely let you know that the lights were on upstairs. She definitely was not a good time, fun, party girl who was up to for anything.

That was where her second persona that she was known came in she became a stickler to the rules like her brother. She was an efficient woman who when she had a mission she would complete it as neatly and efficiently as possible. Her skills in the art of Kido were legendary it was one of the things that she was praised for. She wasn't a great swordsmen but ,she was very smart not as tactical or as fast as her brother but she was faster than almost anyone which made her great in missions because she could lead a group in and out in the best safest manner. It wasn't just her intellect she extremely agile and could manipulate her spirit pressure to amplify her art of kido and magnify it to make it near impossible to beat or counter. She may not be able to crush someone with sheer strength, but she was an asset to her squad to any squad for that matter. So he just couldn't see where his good friend got this notion that she could ever relax and be normal. Perhaps it had been a while since they had talked and maybe they had not been around each other in a long while so maybe she had changed

Suddenly Shuuhei felt a firm hand clasp on to the back of his shoulder in a friendly clap. "You look like your deep in thought."

Speaking of the devil, it was the man himself that he was thinking about ."Hey Renji." He turned back and waited for the man to catch up to him and walk by his side.

"I don't know if I was deep in thought." I let out a smirk.

" Oh god don't tell me you are still trying to order Matsumoto to go out for drinks with you." His friend did not look amused. "The last time you did that she stood you up by actually doing the work Hitsugaya gave her to do."

I grinned ear to ear "But after she was done she did come over and visited with me at my house, God that was a good night." Still smiling widely I thought back and it was a great night the type of night you don't forget any time soon.

Abari gave me a withering look "Sure man." He shrugged "She is hot but I don't see it."

I couldn't help but laugh "But tell me if you had the opportunity you wouldn't nail her?"

It was the other mans turn to laugh "You got me there dude that is an offer I really couldn't refuse."

Both men paused for a moment thinking their own none so pure thoughts about the buxom lieutenant the bounced around there offices when she had to deliver things.

The two captains were quickly approaching the office of squad nine when Renji spoke up again. "But you were just coming from the direction of squad thirteen. What were you doing over there?"

I could see the apprehension in his face and the protective tone in the tall red heads voice. It was my time to give him a withering look as I stepped into my office.

"I was doing little Miss Kuchiki." This came out extremely dry, dryer then I intended but it got the point across to Renji. I could see the anger flash through the man's eyes ever so briefly. "In all honesty I was hoping to catch Ukitaki so that I could properly introduce myself to him because he wasn't there when we went through our ceremony." And for the briefest moment I looked down at the letter that was in my hand then looked back up at Renji curiously.

"How much do you really know about Lieutenant Kuchiki?"

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	2. Chapter 2

**Okey so to be forwarded my grammar and what have you is far from perfect and yes I do know this and I'm sorry so please bear with me . As well I am sorry it took so long to update I can to a sort of writers block and just stared at the two pages I had for a long while but I do promise up dates will come quick now that I have figured out where I want this to go . As well I tried to correct all of my 1****st**** 3****rd**** person points of view and didn't get them all so I do apologies for that . So in the future I am going to correct those as well .**

**And with this I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it **

It had been a long day for Rukia. With all the work she had gotten done and continued to get done being vice captain she still felt like she was missing something in her life. She should be content she had everything that she had ever wanted. A wonderful home, a loving brother, a career finally, loving friends but somehow she felt like she was missing something and that something was burning a hole in her chest.

She walked around the out skirts of the sereti she wasn't ready to go home to another long lonely night she could only handle so many of those anymore and you could only work for so many nights straight before people started to notice and get worried.

She smiled softly as she continued to walk. Up ahead was a large pond that had giant koi that she would watch for hours she had each one memorized and every one of them had a name and a personality. She would look over the bridge railing and look into the clear water for hours when she wanted to get away .It didn't make her feel much better but it did calm her down and help her feel less lonely. She didn't want to admit it but that is what that hole in her chest was . . . . Loneliness it had been so long since she had , had a true companion . As the years slipped away from her the more she longed for a male companion an actual boyfriend but that was something she would never be able to have. She would be married but that would be the only man she would ever know and it was ironic considering how many men she was surrounded by. What she wouldn't give to be Matsumoto some days and feel what she had felt.

It was all futile thoughts of things she would never have. She needed something to take her mind off her little piece of sadness. Looking up at the thing railing of the bridged she thought she could do the one thing she was good at but needed practice with, hand to hand combat. There was a little known art that she had found so many years ago called Wushu the practitioner would move in a straight line instead of in a square or circular manner like most martial arts were taught. The thin railing was perfect for balance. Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes and leapt gracefully onto the rail. Keeping her eyes closed and her breathing even she took her body through the movements using only her feet as her guide. The motions were a form of meditation for her it was like music something to quiet her mind .Only this time she needed the silence and not the noise. As she moved through the motions she did not know if she wanted to laugh or cry at her own pathetic feelings.

He didn't get much out of his friend about Little Miss Rukia for the exception of that if he really wanted to believe she had any talent at all he would have to find out for himself because to talk about Rukia apparently didn't do her talent justice.

Whatever Shuuhei thought to himself as he took a stroll along the quiet grassy out skirts of the Seireitei. It had been a long day for him he had gotten a letter from the captain commander that said he was to lead a mission to the human world because there had been sightings of some unusual hollow's that were said to move extremely fast ,in the letter it described them as a superior form of spider . That thought alone made him shiver uber fast soul sucking spiders, yeah now there was something he wanted to go against in his first go round as a captain in the real world. Then of corse there was Mayuri's long and mostly odd list of things that he wanted picked up including but not limited to a set of metric unit hex wrenches , a weed whacker, two pair of g strings one lady's one men's and grape flavored popsicles the one's with the dancing gummy creature on them .

He ran his hands through his hair, and shook his head why that odd man needed that combination of things was so far beyond him and he knew that if he asked why he would become the test subject for what those articles were meant for. The g- strings he thought he could handle but the weed whacker whatever that was just sounded scary and the specifications for grape popsicles made him nervous . . . beside who liked grape flavored popsicles any way?

But that was really trivial compared to the bigger picture the big picture was that this was his first mission as a real Taichou , it was his job to do it himself or pick out people to go with him to execute it flawlessly. That initially was why he thought of Kuchiki Rukia she was a get in , get out , get gone type of person not one to waste time with the stupid little things or get distracted unless she had the time . In some sense she was a small female archetype of her brother. However watching her this afternoon made him question that from what he saw she looked scattered and clumsy . He snorted mentally at least she wasn't going to be a distraction like Matsumoto would be if he got to be alone with that woman for any given amount of time nothing productive would happen, he had to smirk well nothing productive to the soul society would get done.

The sky was now turning a brilliant fiery orange as the sun started to set into the horizon he loved this time of day work was winding down and life was starting up. These days it didn't seem like he got much time to himself so he had to make what little use he had of his days count. For some reason tonight he didn't feel like going out to join his friends just yet. The warm early summer evening was nice and it was nice to get a break between the entropic din that was his life. Some time away from the excuse me Taichou I need this or , Taichou can we do this or Hisagi you must play your guitar for us or drink another round with us or take care of Kira because he can't handle his alcohol. Folding his hands behind his back much like he would in parade rest he continued forward there was a pond up ahead that he liked to go to for a quiet place and look down into the pond and watch the large koi swim.

The first thing that always caught his eye when he got closer to the pond was the way the light refracted the suns from the water it always seemed to cause the pool to shimmer to some degree. Seeing the familiar glitter made him smile but something else caught his eye there was something small moving in extremely intricate patterns on the thin railing. This made him curious because it had to be one of the Shinigami because he could see the gleam of a zanpakuto in the setting sun. The figure was small and moving with precision and a lot of balance that was hard to manage on such a thin railing . Studying the movements more closely it didn't look like this person was doing normal hand to hand drills it looked like an art he had seen many years ago called WuShu. Were as it wasn't standard practice in drills almost no one knew what it was or how to do it. Hell he himself was not very good at it he was flexible but nowhere near enough to move the way it required it took a different form of precision that he did not have so he chose not to peruse it but this littler person who was doing it was amazing. To manage this mostly linear form in a completely leaner state having to compensate for the weight of their zanpakuto showed defiant skill.

He continued and shook his head the figure was tiny and there was no denying it was fully fledged Shinigami but he didn't know that any of the younger ones would know how to do that not to mention with that precision. Looking closely now he saw that is was a small black haired girl .As he got close to the bridge the woman as he now found out stopped with her back to him.

The woman turned gracefully and looked down at me with a smirk.

"Hello." She said as she leapt from the rail to the grass in front of me.

It was Kuchiki , Little Miss Rukia , the same one he had saved from a very painful collision with the floor earlier that day.

"Hello" the word came out formally because all he could do was stair at her in disbelief.

he watched her put her hands on her hips and start to look a little unsure . " Is everything all right Taichou?" She looked around then back at me " I wasn't doing anything wrong was I?"

As he looked at her he still couldn't speak it was still sinking in that she could move like that.

" Oh " she looked like she was starting to get nervous . " Was this about earlier , about falling off the chair." Her face was fully enflamed and he watched her chew nervously on her lower lip looking at me in anticipation.

He held out a little longer watching her fidget it was entirely to amusing to watch her face turn that red. Trying to stifle back a laugh he shook his "No lieutenant Kuchiki I was just observing your practice." He cleared his throat and sobered his face "You are quiet talented."

He watched her blush and smile softly.

"Thank you Taichou."

Looking down at her he had never really noticed that her eyes were actually violet for years he had heard his friend talk about them but he never really took the time to look at them or at her for that matter. The more he studied her the more it took him off guard she was not the knobby kneed little girl that he had dismissed so easily in academy somewhere along the line all of her sharp edges seemed to soften and leave her looking more like woman despite her height. What was he thinking this was Kuchiki Rukia it wasn't like she was a goddess like Matusmoto .Shaking his head he tried to clear his thoughts . He was here on a mission now that he saw what she was capable of he could think of no one else that would be better suited for the mission than she was.

"Lieutenant Kuchiki"

She just arched an amused eyebrow "Yes"

He reached into his Yukata sleeve and pulled out the orders that he was going to give her earlier. He watched her tilt her head to the side curiously as he handed her the paper work. After seeing what she was capable of he knew this would not be a mistake in asking her to join him. He watched silently as she read over the paper work and watched her face contort a bit .

"He wants grape popsicles and a weed whacker?"

There was a hit of disbelief and slight confusion in her voice as she read that part more to herself then to him. He continued to watch her read the note her mouth silently whispering the words quickly to herself as if he weren't even there .

"You have got to be kidding me!" She blurted out of nowhere . "Spiders." She said in disbelief. " They honestly expect me to go after." He watched her shiver involuntarily.

"They expect **US." **He knew he broke her out of her train of thought as she slowly lifted her head her cheeks were as red as Renji's hair. He couldn't help but laugh again her reaction to this letter was priceless " They expect us to go after the spiders."

Her face still stayed red but took on more of a confused state "Why the popsicles and weed whacker?"

Shuuhei snorted in amusement "You forgot the two thongs." He watched her eyes get huge and her face turn even brighter red. He was now taking a sick sort of enjoyment out of watching the woman blush because she just did it too easily.

"He could have ordered that off the internet you know." She said under her breath, but he heard her all to clearly " What did you say Lieutenant Kuchiki."

"Nothing." She said quickly folding the paper back to its original shape "Nothing, but it does sound like an interesting mission." She smiled weakly.

He nodded his head "Indeed it does and i was asked to pick out someone capable of getting the job done with me ."

She arched her eyebrow " So in conjunction with spiders you thought of me. . . . That's flattering."

She looked highly un amused and this took him completely off guard " No . no , no ,no" he was no back pedaling as he watched her continue to look un amused an expression her brother often took when he was about to say no to something. " No. They wanted me to find someone who could help execute the mission in a timely manner and, I thought of you seeing as you were trained by Kuchiki himself."

This time her expression turned completely flat and he knew he had just dug himself deeper into a hole. "So do you want me or my brother?"

Shuuhei mentally palmed his forehead this was turning into a disaster of epic proportion just to ask a subordinate to go on a mission. Taking a deep breath he ran his hands through his hair trying to find some way out of this one.

"No Lieutenant Kuchiki what I saw you just doing made the decision clear as to who I should pick." He made his voice sound as authoritative as he could so she would take him seriously. However even using that tone of voice she looked like she was going to say no. "Look." The words came out honestly no pretences behind it. "What I saw you do up there really impressed me I'm not going to lie I can't do that and I doubt that many or anyone can do it like that. You have a reputation of getting in , getting out, and getting gone and the quicker I can do that with spiders the better because I don't like them much more then you seem to."

He watched her pause for more than a moment then nod her head "I will accompany you on this mission Taichou."

He let out a silent sigh of relief that she was actually going to take this job then paused as he watched a thought pass through her eyes that didn't see to make her happy.

"But you are going to have to ask my Nii-sama if it is okay if I go." If he didn't know better he could swear there was a sad hint to her voice.

Shuuhei Nodded his head "The sooner the better I was told that we were to report to our mission in the morning."

She blinked "That awesome they gave you time to prepare." She muttered sarcastically and shook her head "In that case would you care to have dinner with Nii-sama and I since you will have to ask him any way."

He nodded but really didn't want to . It wasn't that he was on bad terms with Kuchiki it's just whenever it came to his little sister you ran the risk of his annoyance. She started to walk and he started to follow her.

"But if I may ask why do I have to ask your Nii-sama if you can go on a mandated mission."

She looked back at him with a blank unreadable expression. " Because the clan is trying to marry me off."

He looked down at her with amusement " And what are you a flight risk are they afraid you will purposely end your chastity." He laughed the nobles where all to ridiculous for their own good.

Stopping she turn back to him "Yes." She said simply

His jaw just dropped .

"Yeah I know." She laughed a little and gestured him forward

The rest of the walk to the Kuchiki manor was a silent one as he watched the woman beside him get more and more solom with each step. Upon entering the gate of the manor two guards bowed deeply to both of them. Her calmness was starting to un nerve him he was watching her do a one hundred and eighty degree turn in her behavior. He followed her through the front gardens and saw her brother standing in the center of front door.

"Your late." His words were simple and cool.

"My deepest apologies Nii-sama." She bowed deeply to him

Shuuhei cleared his throat. " It is my fault Kuchiki Taichou that Rukia has been held up."

The older Taichou arched his eyebrow and looked down at the younger man.

"I was informed earlier today of a mission that the captain commander wish's for me to take in the human world." Shuuhei looked over to Rukia who now stared meekly at the ground. "and I thought your sister would be the best candidate to company me since she is more familiar with it than I am."

The elder Kuchiki nodded his head. " I think you have made a wise decision choosing Rukia ."

Both Rukia and Shuuhei blinked not expecting those words to come out of the elder Kuchiki's mouth

Byakuya looked down at Rukia "But that still does not excuse you from being late Rukia we have gusts waiting."

Watching this hole interaction was bizarre to Shuuhei ,he had never seen a brother and sister act so formally to each other it was almost painful to watch. It was even harder to believe that the woman standing next to him was the care free woman he saw dancing I her office. As painful as it was to watch he continued to watch the two interact.

" I was not aware we were having guests tonight ." Her voice was even smaller now that her head was directed at the ground.

Byakuya nodded cooly "The elders have said that it would be good to invite the Iwazakie clan to dine with us this evening ."

Shuuhei watched Rukia's head fling up but she didn't say a word.

Byakuya looked down to Shuuhei "Taichou since it is late I will invite you to have dinner with us."

There was no way on earth Shuuhei could say no without looking rude and something in his stomach was telling him not to leave Rukia alone at this moment.

"It will be my honor Taichou Kuchiki."

With that Byakuya turned his back to the both of them and walked into the manor leaving them behind.

"Shit." She whispered under her breath

This act of human emotion startled Shuuhei after all of the robotic conversation.

"What?" He looked down at her with some concern.

"You are about to meet one of the men my family wish's to marry me off to."

Rukia did not look happy about this at all as a matter of fact she looked down right angry

"How bad could this guy be?" he whispered down to her and, as he walked into the dining room he saw exactly how bad this guy was.

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	3. Chapter 3

**So I'm sure the grammar in this story is far from perfect but I do hope that it is a little easier to read this time. I would also like to thank everyone who has read and review it has meant a lot to me so , thank you a million times over .**

The Kuchiki manor would always be impressive to him, no matter how many times he had entered it, for whatever reason that brought him there. It wasn't its vastness that always made him miss a few steps it was its sparseness, it was understated but even though there wasn't very much to look around passed the main room everything that was in the house screamed class and old grandeur and hard work.

Very few warriors still lived like this in these time's as he has learned, people now flaunted their lavish wealth were ever they could .So bigger more opulent was better ,the more grand your house , your person the better they thought it made them. In Shuuhei's eyes it just made most of the nobles look ridiculous and gauche.

Never in his life did he ever want to emulate Kuchiki Taichou completely .It was just not in his demeanor to do so but, he did want to learn from him the old ways of the honorable warrior . Even though he had a meager standard of living because he was younger and had yet to pay his due's he did have his honor and his pride and he did not want to squander his name or reputation by foolish means.

As he continued to walk down one of the main hallways he could feel the small woman beside him start to tense up and become nervous .HIs first reaction was to put his hand on her shoulder and squeeze it in reassure, like he would do to any of his other friends but he did not know her well enough and he did not know the situation that they were about to walk into was . So it could be she was just acting like a flighty snobbish noble who just did not want to deal with whom ever sat in the upcoming room. When Rukia became more nervous it made him become unsure of himself as well .He was walking into a room full of people with money that would think of him like gum that they had stepped on.

He looked up at Kuchiki Byakuya and saw the white haori ,and it occurred to him that at this moment there was very few things that separated him from this great man. In the work perspective he was the man's equal, in his own right he was a man of proper standing and commanded respect and he really had nothing to fear from these noble men because there true action would show what class they really had.

This wasn't something he was using to make himself feel better it was now a truth that he was no long a street urchin that he had worked his way up in life and earned the right to be respected. It was all such an odd thought that he was still getting used because in his heart he would always be a boy from the streets trying to find a way to make a living for himself. So he stood a little straighter and held his head up high because he who did not hold himself in a respectful manor would not get treated with respect in return.

When they finally reached the dining room Rukia's nerves were almost palpable her Nii-sama never looked back at her but he could also see Kuchiki Taichou's stiffen up a bit and if both of them were bracing themselves for something than something inside of him told him he should be extremely careful and be an observer of this night not a participant. He quietly dropped behind Rukia to let her lead him in the room .When he stepped fully into the room he had to do everything he could to keep from laughing at the man who was kneeling on the cushion .

If he could have picked out a stereo typical noble pretty boy this would have to be it. The man was dressed in the most garish red and gold kimono he had ever seen in his entire life it had little koi patterns on it and if he didn't know better he could swear the koi had diamonds for eyes. At Further assessment he could tell the sword the man carried was nothing but decoration to show off more of his wealth having an expensive golden inlayed sheath with a highly jeweled hilt . He was by far from being considered an ugly man as a matter of fact most of his fellow Taichou and subordinates would probably be drooling all over him by now . He had the soft round pretty boy features but in shuuhei's opinion there was certain laziness the lie behind the man's eyes but despite the man's appearance he could very well turn out to be a good guy so he would with hold complete judgment for now.

"Byakuya." The man said sharply not even bother to address him properly. "Why is my future wife not dressed properly for dinner." The un named man turned look at Rukia. " It is disgraceful that you would come to dinner with me not looking like a proper woman." He looked up at Byakuya "You really are quiet lenient with her." Her shrugged his shoulders "But whatever it is not my concern yet."

As the man mentioned the word wife and Rukia in the same sentence he watched as she looked down at the man then up at her brother with a horrified expression like he was out of his mind for letting the man sitting down call her his wife. He noticed that Byakuya did not react to his sister's expression what so ever it was as if he didn't even see her do it.

Byakuya just cleared his throat in what could only be annoyance at this man audacity " Iwazaki Izo I would like to introduce you to Taichou Shuuhei Hisagi." The words came out clear and cold as he gestures for both Rukia and Shuuhei to take a seat.

Before they took their seats the man dismissed Shuuhei with a flick of his wrist "Another Taichou." Izo looked at Shuuhei with condescending amusement. " I didn't know you actually associated with the rest of them Byakuya. " The air of superiority was dripping with each word. "And Rukia pour me another cup of saki." He shook his head in disbelief. " I cannot believe how much you are lacking in the skills of hospitality." He shook his head at Byakuya . "You know you really do let the girl run to wild she really will have to be better trained before she comes to my house I cannot tolerate this kind of behavior in a woman."

"Rukia sit." Byakuya said coldly as he turned to Izo. " It is what our house has maids for." The words came out chillingly calm.

Shuuhei watched in total shock at the interaction with this impudent little man. The way he treated Rukia in his eyes was insufferable and if he were Byakuya he would have decked the man by now and thrown him out of his house. However, he knew there politics and knew it would be a breach of conduct if this were to happen.

As this was all going on it took every piece of will power for him to not look over at Rukia but , she wasn't as good as her brother at hiding her feelings and the feeling of absolute revulsion that was emanating from her at the moment made it impossible for him not to look at the little woman's reaction . When he looked over at her what he saw made him cringe the bright woman that he saw dancing around her office to rock music this morning was gone and sitting in her place was what he could only describe as a piece of stone. Her face was devoid of all emotion and was as pale as the moon its self she couldn't have been more different if she tried.

Byakuya motioned for him to sit on the other side of Rukia which made him smile she looked so tiny sitting in between he and Byakuya and it did make him feel a little better that she sat between them because even though he didn't know this man he already wanted to shield her from him.

He watched as Byakuya diplomatically ignored Izo's previous comments to Rukia and gestured to Shuuhei himself. "Shuuhei has recently become one of our most promising Taichou it has been an honor to watch him gain rank." Byakuya said coolly.

He watched as Izo merely nodded. " It is good you guards have another good one."

He twitched at the man's utter disregard for him but he held his tongue as he knew it was the best thing he could do.

Izo went on "Considering you had that dreadful defect last year with the other Taichou. I honestly don't know how you could have missed all those signs of the men's lack in character Byakuya it is very unlike you to be so careless. I am sure if you would have been paying more attention it would have never happened." The horrid man chuckled. " But it was a good lesson learned and we all need those from time to time. It helps keep us better men sharp."

He watched Byakuya clench and unclench his fists under the table making no other sign of his outward annoyance of the arrogant man sitting across the table from him. "That it does." He agreed flatly.

He watched as Izo immediately turned his attention back to Rukia. " But it is quiet good that your name was cleared from that whole ordeal or else my house would have never considered taking you if by some chance you were to have lived through it." He shook his finger at her like he would a naughty child "Because I did hear how you got into that mess in the first place ."

"Lucky me." He heard Rukia almost inaudibly whisper sarcastically.

"What was that." Izo snapped with a dangerous tone to his voice.

Rukia put a bright smile on her face. " I said Lucky me." Her voice came out sickeningly sweet.

The noble nodded in satisfaction "That you are."

It took everything he had not too out rightly laugh at Rukia's lie but failed miserably and let out a surprised cough instead. He had no idea that she was such an excellent actress this little girl had balls of steel to do what she just managed to do.

Izo looked at him sharply after he let out the stifled cough. "Did you find something funny with what the lady said?"

He managed to look at the other man coolly and shake his head. "No I just had a something caught in my throat. I am human you know I am aloud faults." His voice came out a little angrier the he had intended it to as he watched the other man purse his lips in distaste.

"I thought they taught the likes of you to be silent and control your urges."

He gritted his teeth and then started to open his mouth this man had finally step over a line with him and it was time to put him in his place. He was going to do it until her felt a soft hand on his leg as Rukia was giving him a silent gesture to stop from saying anything stupid. As he closed his mouth she patted his leg gently in a comforting manner this woman was surprising him more and more by the hour. Her patience was unbelievable. As well he was learning that Byakuya almost had unlimited patience he knew the man was good but never this good.

To his great relief dinner was being served and hopefully for his sake the man would stay quiet and Shuuhei would be able to keep his mouth shut and keep from embarrassing Rukia and her brother but unfortunately the fun didn't stop there. Much to his dismay as the dinner continued he watched Izo start to drink more and more saki and progressively get drunker, ruder and more demanding and as this was happening his comments to Rukia became more demeaning. He picked her apart from not being feminine enough to having to have her hands scrubbed of there calluses from all of her sword use he even started to talk to Byakuya about what he was going to give the Iwazaki family as a dowry for Rukia considering she was as he quoted not completely noble and his family was dipping a little lower in the Kuchiki pot in taking Rukia into his home . By this time he had concluded that the man was sufficiently drunk after having drank at least four bottles of saki by himself.

Byakuya and Rukia just sat there like stone's neither one paying the man much creed .Through the whole disaster Rukia may have only spoken a few words and Byakuya perhaps a paragraph to this idiotic man. He concluded that this narcissistic man just liked to hear himself speak and sound important and that is why he babbled on insesivly.

Thankfully Byakuya was diplomatic about getting the man out of his house before either one of them did anything stupid to the man.

Looking at the wall clock Byakuya let out a deep sigh of regret. " I am sorry to say." He interrupted Izo from some pointless rambling that he was doing . "That we must cut this evening short ." The stupid man looked to open his mouth again but Byakuya quickly cut him off before he could say anything. "I fear that I have much work that needs to get done and Shuuhei and Rukia must be getting to their rooms for the evening because they will be having a long day tomorrow."

Izo looked at Rukia sharply "And what is _she_ going to be doing tomorrow that will be so strenuous. It's not like she is very important in regards to most of the Shinigami."

"She." Byakuya gritted his teeth. "Is a Lieutenant, and her job happens to be very important."

This was the first time all evening that he had hear Byakuya take any sort of edge to his voice .

"And they." Byakuya continued "Have been selected to go on a mission to the human world tomorrow ,that will last for as long a time as necessary to get rid of some particularly nasty hollows." Byakuya's words sounded like he had put an end to the topic but Izo looked out raged his cheeks now red from the amount of saki he had drank throughout the meal.

"You are letting her go un chaperoned on mission to the human world no less." He exclaimed loudly "That is completely unacceptable and I will not allow my wife to do such things."

Byakuya looked at the man coldly. "She is not your wife and you have say over her affairs. I am her guardian and I will tell her what she can and cannot do ,and what is and is not appropriate ." He looked the man dead in the eyes. "Are you questioning my judgment in matters that concern _my_ family?"

The other man now completely drunk glowered for a moment. " I only wish for the safety of out little Rukia it is a big world out there Byakuya and who knows." He looked over at me. " What trouble her naiveté will get her into."

That was it he could only take this man insulting him for so long and he was about snap again before he felt Rukia's sharp little nails digging into his thigh insuring that he keep himself silent.

"I think it is time you go." Byakuya gestured to the door.

Izo was now completely smashed , and completely unconcerned with what he was saying . "Just as well I have promised Mameha that I will pay her a visit tonight at the Nitta Tea house you know how fickle Geisha can get."

This time he could feel Rukia almost vibrating with anger beside him and it was his turn to calm her down in doing the same gesture she had been doing to him all even he patted her knee gently letting her know that everything was going to be alright.

Byakuya said nothing and lead the wobbly drunken man out of the room.

Rukia puffed herself up and was so angry she was shaking as she turned to him."I hope you know I have no intention of _**EVER**_ marrying that man."

"I never thought you did." He told her calmly but before he could get any more out Byakuya came back into the room looking extremely angry himself.

"I am so sorry you had to witness this horrid event." Byakuya said sincerely. "As well I apologize for the rudeness that my guest has inflicted upon you. He shows no reflection on the way this house hold is run."

"I take no offence your hospitality has been generous tonight and I thank you for inviting me to dinner on such short notice." He watched as Byakuya's facile muscles relaxed a bit but still keeping its ever cool expression.

Suddenly Rukia spoke up "I don't care what the family says I will not marry that man even if the papers have already been signed and I am scheduled to be out of this house this moment. I will not do it Nii-sama."

Byakuya closed his eyes for a long moment, looking to gather himself up. "There has been nothing set up Rukia our family only agreed on this meeting on his insistence."

He could see Rukia let out a small breath of relief but she was not completely pacified . He watched as something silent transpired through the brother and sister that made Rukia calm down a little more.

Byakuya relaxed a little more and looked up at the clock again "But it is late and I do have work that still needs to be done before tomorrow so I shall be retiring for the evening. I trust you two will get the rest required to complete the first day of your mission and if I do not see you in the morning Rukia good luck and just remember." The older man smiled "Spiders really aren't that bad." He let out a low chuckle.

"So says you." Her face broke into softer smile she stood up and bowed to him " Good night Nii-sama."

He stood up with her and bowed deeply as well. "Good night Kuchiki Taichou."

And with that Byakuya turned and walked out of the room.

XXXXXXXXXX

Rukia let out a long sigh and ran her hands through her hair and looked up at Shuuhei with an apologetic expression.

" I am so sorry you had to bear witness to such a horrible evening I had no idea he was going to be here."

She sighed inwardly and she really was too she couldn't believe how insufferable that man was and to subject poor Shuuhei to him. She had only met Izo during clan meetings he was bad then but he was worse than she had thought.

"Come on." She gestured for him to follow her out of the dining room.

She lead him down the hall and back out into the gardens.

"I promise I had no idea he would be here tonight."She said again and bit her lip looking away in embarrassment. Oddly enough she started to hear the other man laugh.

"Don't worry about me Rukia I found the entire thing amusing and enlightening."

She couldn't help herself she knew she was blushing to roots of her hair which only made the man beside her laughed harder.

"Your just lucky I didn't throw back a few glass's of Saki." He said nudging her shoulder a little.

Her eyes grew wide she didn't even want to imagine what would have happened if Shuuhei would have done that .Then she watched him give her an extremely flat look.

" I have better manners then that."

She arched her eyebrow with a smirk trying to lighten the mood. " I don't know Renji has told me about some pretty wild parties that you two have participated in."

He laughed, and with what Renji told me about you. " I think I was lucky I didn't see a blood bath."

" I so do not get that angry" She had to look away again to try to hide the smirk. She wasn't violent, but it was very well known that she had been known to lose her temper and possibly punch Renji when he called her a midget or was just being a general moron.

"Time shall tell." He said

She watched him smirk.

"We will be spending a lot of time together in the human world on this mission."

They reached the gate and she smiled. "Oh I think we will learn a lot about each other in the coming weeks."

Shuuhei nodded. " I believe we will. But please Rukia for the sake of my sanity don't bring any angry chick music . I can stand . . . . . . and even like some of the stuff you were playing in your office earlier but, the whole I hate men thing sorta freaks me out." He smirked and winked at her.

"Good night Shuuhei." She opened the gate and smile "and I will bring and listen to what ever music I want to." She couldn't help but smile at him as he walked out of the gate as he walked away all she heard was "We will see how long they will last."

She closed the gate and turned to walk back to her room it was late but she couldn't sleep because all she could wonder was just what would this mission bring ?

**So hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I did writing it , and please R&R**

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	4. Chapter 4

The day dawned early, to early for Rukia's liking. Izo's visit the night before had put her in a bad mood she knew the family wanted her to marry . She just never thought they would ever be cruel enough to marry her off to someone like that. She shook her head and let out a soft sigh .

"Well." She said to herself as she picked up her already packed bag. "At least I have a slight reprieve from all of his madness."

She tossed the bag by the door and continued to get dressed dawning her uniform quickly she took another look at her painfully small bag. She really didn't need much to wear, and to take with her on this mission. It wasn't like she was going to be with Ichigo, and would be doing a lot of socializing so she didn't need many outfits . The thought of not really getting to go out in the human world made her a little blue she always liked to go and get ice cream at her favorite little gelato shop that served hands down the best dark chocolate ice cream ever.

Picking up her bag she walked down the hallway and she couldn't help but wonder, 'would this be a boring trip?' She had never really dealt much with Shuuhei so all she really knew about him was what she had heard through Renji and through the grape vine that was known as the goeti 13. Which even then wasn't much she just knew that he liked to go out , party, and play his guitar, and when it came to work he was as serious about it as her brother . She silently wondered if this was going to be a long stay in the human world because he truly did have the personality of brick wall when it came to work.

Reaching the end of the corridor she pursed her lips and looked a little confused.

"Nii-sama , Why are you still waiting in the house?"

He looked down at her coolly.

"I wanted to give you a formal good bye and to say that you will do this family proud in your first mission as a lieutenant."

Bowing deeply to him she looked back up. "Is this your odd way of saying you are proud of me."

The corner of his lip twitched up in a silent yes.

"Then I will do Nii-sama and the Kuchiki name proud. But first I need to know." She paused and held her breath for a moment. "Nii-sama are you going to marry me off to the horrid man Izo."

She looked up into his eyes and prayed he would say no that she would safe from that terrible man.

Unconsciously she watched her Nii-sama put his hand on the hilt of his sword. "Not if I can help it ." He stated simply.

This statement didn't make her completely happy because it wasn't a definitive no, but it was better than a yes . It made her feel only a fraction better as well because she knew his word was usually law."

Bowing once more to him she let out a deep breath. "Thank you Nii-sama."

He merely nodded his head a little then looked to the door. "You should be going Shuuhei is waiting by the front gate for you, and you are already late."

"Oh." and with that she grabbed her bag and made a bee line for the door. Upon getting outside she realized the sun had not even breached the horizon and she was nowhere near what she would consider late….. Only her Nii-sama would consider this late.

Sure enough she saw Taichou Shuuhei standing at her front gate waiting for her with a slight smirk.

"It's about time Kuchiki, in the world of your brother your already two hours to late."

Without realizing it she stuck her tongue out at him and started to mimic him like she would do to Renji." But she caught herself and put her hand over her mouth.

"I am so sorry Taichou." Her face turned a deep crimson red as she looked away in embarrassment.

Shuuhei snorted out a laugh. "Dude someday your skin is going to stay that color." He snickered at his own joke.

She took this as a sign that he might not be so uptight and looked at him with a very un amused expression.

"Cute." She said sarcastically "I'll be sure to keep that in mind for the next time."

"Come on." He gestured forward. "You know those damned gates wait for no one."

It was Rukia's time to snicker now. "That's right didn't you get left behind once because _you_ where late."

He looked around slightly embarrassed. "I had a good reason." He said defensively as they walked towards the outskirts of the Seireitei.

"Ssuuuurrreee you , and as my Nii-sama would say." And she puffed herself to try and make herself a little taller "There is no excuse for tardiness." She tried to copy his much deeper voice only in turn to make herself and Shuuhei laugh.

"So it's good to know I don't have a mini Kuchiki Taichou traveling with me."

"You never. . . "Her words got cut short because a few yards away from the gate she saw Izo looking to be bickering with her Taichou and a few of the other subordinate of squad two.

"Why is he here?" Shuuhei whispered down to her.

Rukia looked up at him helplessly. "I don't know."

Her voice came out small and almost frightened causing Shuuhei to stand a little closer to her.

"You didn't know he was going to be here?"

Rukia shook her head.

Even from the distance they were from the group Rukia could still hear the belligerence in his voice from still being drunk as he was arguing with her Taichou. His cloths were wrinkled and it looked like he had never gone to bed , but just kept drinking the night away.

Closing her eyes Rukia took a deep breath trying to calm herself before opening them again. She really didn't have the want or the energy to deal with this repugnant man this early in the morning.

Knowing that her presence would be noticed she continued to walk with Shuuhei to the gate. It only took him a few minutes before he spotted the two and came charging over to them.

"Rukia!" his words came out like he was about to scold a small child.

"I command you to abort this mission immediately. I will not have my future wife gallivanting around the human world let alone ." He gestured distastefully at Shuuhei " With a man of his status."

Rukia almost chocked on the words that were about to come out of her mouth and she felt Shuuhei start to coil like a snake about to strike.

Izo was about to reach out to grab her away from Shuuhei until he saw Shuuhei step forward reflexively reaching for his sword

"Relax bro." Renji's good natured voice interrupted the man's belligerent cursing. " I think two Taichou could protect her better than one." His good natured voice turned a little harder as he watched the man rectify himself.

"You will do as I say Rukia." Izo commanded. "Or you will ruin your reputation and make yourself look like a common who. . . "

By this time Shuuhei had, had enough and stepped forward again " I would suggest you leave now." His words came out cold and finite.

Rukia watched in disbelief, this was like a horrible nightmare come true she truly couldn't believe her eyes or ears.

"Watch who you are talking to commoner." Izo spat as he stepped back a few feet. "You have no business in the concerns. . of."

"You two will be late." A quiet but extremely angry voice came from behind them.

Byakuya stood there stark still and unmoving looking down at the man coldly. "I would suggest." He left the word open. "That you leave these two Taichou alone because I cannot account for their actions and with your open insults . I will turn a blind eye to what they are about to do."

Izo stared at Byakuya, drunken anger still flickering in his eyes ,but he stayed quiet none the less.

Byakuya looked over to Shuuhei and Renji then down to his sister .

"What are you doing here Abari?"

Renji never took his eyes off the still drunk man. " I was told by the captain commander to inform Shuuhei that if he needed a second person when he was in the human world to contact me ."

Byakuya nodded a satisfactory nodded.

"Thank you, if I need someone else down there I will inform you immediately."

Renji nodded curtly "Then I hope the two of you have fun down there." He smiled and winked as his back was turned so Izo could not see his face.

Rukia could tell the both men were suppressing a smile as they were trying to irritate Izo further into making himself look like an ass.

She felt Shuuhei's hand on the small of her back pulling her close. "Come." He commanded "The gates are opening." With that two left the mess behind them and walked through to the human world.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As they entered the human world everything still felt like she was living in a very odd dream ,and Izo was there to make her life a living hell.

"Son of a bitch." She muttered under her breath

This caught her traveling companion off guard and he quickly released his hold from around her waist almost pushing her away in the process.

"Excuse me?" he looked at her oddly.

"Oh no." Her eyes got wide and she bit her lower lip "That was so not meant for you."

Shuuhei continued to look down at her oddly.

He must think I'm insane right along with Izo . Putting her head in her hands she sighed before looking up at him apologetically.

" I am so sorry I swear I'm not as nuts as it may look like right now. I mean whole thing Izo ,and the drunkenness. . .and we aren't all rude . . and I'm not. ." She started rambling and fidgeting she really didn't notice he had started to laugh at her until he said her name.

"Rukia."

He looked down at her for a long moment." You're not nuts, I don't put you and your bother in the same category as that nut job that I had the displeasure of meeting last night."

A great sense of relief washed over her and she let herself relax for a moment ." Thank you." It really was all she could say was just thank you. Smoothing out her hakima she looked around to see where exactly they had emerged from because it certainly was Urahara's shop. Wrinkling up her nose she looked up at him.

" I really hope you know where we are." Continuing to look around she saw cars and bus's whizzing by along with the everyday hustle and bustle of the city life around her .

"Sure." Shuuhei looked down at her with a very charming smile.

"You have no idea where we are either do you?" she said laughing and shifting her bag to her other shoulder.

"No." He looked around then back down to her. "I have some idea where I am but I have never been hear so I have to find it." Reaching out he took her hand and started to drag her down the street.

"What!" she stumbled a bit before she caught her footing to kept from falling flat on her face from the sudden movement. 'You do, but you don't know where we are at?" By this time she was totally perplexed

He nodded. "Yup, they gave me a flat in human world for when I do missions now. . . . all I have to do is find it ."

She snorted and snickered "They gave you a flat, but didn't tell you where it was." She couldn't stop snickering. "That's awesome."

He looked down at her glaring a little.

"Oh don't give me that mister I have my own flat in the real world ."

He looked down at her with some amusement "Excuse me miss I have a house no. no. no wait a mansion _**any**_ where I go so I don't have worry _**ever**_."

Rukia yanked on his hand for him to slow down as she was increasingly getting agitated "_**that**_ is my Nii-sama." She looked away so perhaps her couldn't hear the rest and she could save face . " I stay in ichigo's closet when I am down here."

Shuuhei stopped short causing Rukia yet again to stumble "Oh my god so it is true ."

"What?" she said testily

"I heard your brothers going off on Renji a few months back when he found out you were sleeping in some boys closet and he wasn't doing anything about it."

Rukia bit her lip and cringed. "That must have been a pleasant conversation."

Shuuhei just nodded and started to walk again with her hand still in his neither one of them noticing. "Yeah considering Renji has a flat down here too."

"How in the hell is this fair. You two get flats in the human world and I get stuck in closet."

Shuuhei looked down at her and snickered "Yeah life's a bitch isn't it."

She looked up at him and glared " Sure is when you have a house but don't know where it's at." She smiled sweetly up at him

He looked down at her with his best charming smile "But it's still there and it's still mine." He winked at her with an arrogant smile.

"How do you know it's not four boards and a piece of tin for a roof." She looked up at him with a smirk. "I mean that's still considered a flat , yes?"

This made the other man stop short and look down at her "Don't say that."

She grinned up at him evilly " You never know" she said teasingly.

"Your brother would never leave you with out a place to say." He said this hopping it was she who would save his ass if it indeed turned out to be what she said.

She looked up at him and shrugged her shoulders "Hey I stayed in a closet don't expect my connections to help you when they won't even help me."

"You have a point ." Unthinking he let go of her hand to look at the directions for their flat on them. He turned it ever so slightly studying it .

"You don't even know how to read it do you?" She laughed. "Come on give it to me so I can help." She held her hand out and he just looked at her " Oh come on we can't get much more lost then we already are."

Shuuhei looked down at her "I'm not lost you evil midget."

She gasped and continued to cold her hand out calmly " just give it to me you tattooed freak."

He smirked and held the piece of paper up dangling it over her head so she couldn't reach it. and laughed " I thought you liked tattooed freaks ?"

In retaliation Rukia kicked him in the shin .He let out a yelp and dropped the paper right into her smug little hands. " I do . . . when they are listening to me."

She stood there for a long moment looking at the directions before she started laugh hysterically. "Oh my god we aren't even the right part of town." She looked up at him still trying not to laugh because his expression was too comical he looked like he didn't know if he wanted to hug or hit her. Without thinking she grabbed his hand "Come on I think it's this way."

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Shuuhei paid no attention as Rukia took his hand the only thought that flashed through his head and only for a moment was what small soft hands this woman had.

In the very back of his mind as well he was relieved that she at least knew where they were going he wasn't bad with directions, but some days he got so tangled up in the human world he had no idea which said was up and which side was down.

"So you really know where we are going?" the words came out more hesitant then he liked. He hoped to god she wasn't one of those women that would kick him in the balls for doubting her ,and he sincerely hoped she wasn't a girly girl that would cry because she though he didn't think she was capable enough.

Without even slowing down she nodded her head seeming unconcerned about him or the tone of voice which relived him greatly. It also intrigued him a great deal because he had never known her to be this assertive. In all the times he had seen her she had been the quiet one in the corner not really speaking much and if she did speak she would let other people talk over her. So he had automatically took her for a push over which was certainly not the case considering she just called him a tattooed freak and kicked him in the shin.

Through all of his busy thoughts he didn't realize she had stopped until he ran into and almost over her.

"Ouch!"

He watched her look up at him like he was out of his mind . "You know you really should learn to pay more attention ."

Looking down at her he smiled sheepishly "Sorry"

Looking around at the busy street corner he couldn't help but ask "Where are we?"

She arched her eyebrow and gestured to the nice building in front of them ." Your humble flat."

They both looked up at it eyes wide.

He couldn't believe it never in his wildest dreams did he ever think that he would be this lucky to have two nice places to live that were actually his . Not a room for rent of someone else's couch or even on the street. He thought he was lucky when he was a Lieutenant and got a larger room in the dorms but this was amazing.

"Come on." Her eyes were sparkling with curiosity as she pulled him to the door. " I for one want to see what this place looks like

When she smiled he couldn't help but smile too it was infectious a smile that made everyone around her want to smile with her. He looked up at the building with a smile of his own.

"Did it say what floor I'm on." He wiggled his eyebrow "Maybe I got the penthouse."

Rukia chuckled and shook her head. "You're on level seventeen."

He looked up at the tall building, it wasn't the penthouse, but it wasn't the ground floor either.

He wondered what the inside would look like as she pulled him through the front door. . . . .

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**So hope you all enjoyed reading the chapter as much as I did writing it **

**So please read and review Reviews= happy author = love **

**So go on and give your author some luv**


	5. Chapter 5

**So, I'm sorry this has taken much , much , much longer than I have originally intended it to come out . This last month was a long and draining one thus causing me a serious case of writers block . It felt like I had been hit by a semi truck , peeled off the road with a tractor, and flung into some deep abyss . So by the grace of some god I have managed to drag myself out so thank you in advance for bearing with me. **

**bear with me again because this is going to be a transitional chapter thus being a little longer than most of the others and has taken on an interesting turn that I really didn't intend for it to go, but I do hope it is enjoyable and please , please , please try not to be too hard on me about my grammar I know it sucks .**

**As always read and enjoy**

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Shuuhei couldn't help but laugh at Rukia excitement as she took him by the hand and started to rush up the stairs . Truth be told he was more than just a little exited to see what his new apartment would look like. Considering the one they gave him when he became a lieutenant was more than nice he could hardly imagine what this one would be like.

It didn't occur to either of them in their excitement that they could have taken the elevator. The door to the stairs was the first door that said up that they both saw so they took it.

With a devious grin Shuuhei looked down at Rukia."Hey Shorty."

Looking up at him curiously she cocked her eyebrow.

"Yes." She drew the word out with some amusement.

"Bet I can make it up there before you."

She just laughed "You so did not just challenge me?" she grinned up at him.

He just nodded. "I believe I just did Miss Kuchiki." He smirked and he turned around. " First one there gets the biggest bedroom."

Taking off they both rushed up the stairs , but seventeen flights of stairs was a lot even for a Shinigami that was in shape. Half way to the top he noticed that Rukia had started to slow down just a bit. Jumping passed her he turned around and grinned

" Oh come on don't tell me you have gotten tired yet."

He laughed as Rukia eyes sparkled.

She laughed and sprinted up a stair and passed him laughing as she looked down at him " Are you coming?" She smiled and with another sudden burst of speed was at least five steps in front of him .

For a long moment all he could do is look at her and smile . Her laughter truly was just as infectious as Renji told him it would be. He couldn't believe it she actually made him want to laugh along with her. The girl that he thought was going to be a little stick in the mud was turning out to be nothing like he had expected.

Like two little kids they pushed, and pulled ,and bumped their way up the stair well. By the time they reached the door to the seventeenth floor landing Shuuhei was more than just a little out of breath. They hit the door at the same time, but he held his back up against it so that Rukia could not pull it open. Looking down at her he had to shake his head . He had no idea what had gotten into him he had not acted like this is more years than he could he could count, but somehow she managed to pull out a playfulness in him that he didn't show often, and if he was truthful with himself it felt good.

Putting her hands on her hips she looked up at him. "That is so not fair." She said panting.

Leaning his head back against the door trying to catch his breath he quirked an eye brow at her. "What's not fair, that your short or I got to the door first?" Giving her a cocky grin he opened the door and shot forward into the hallway .With a surprised little gasp she shunpoed after him .

He was fast but, he knew she was faster, and this was his new house, and damn it he wanted to biggest room .So he wasn't afraid to play a little dirty with the girl that had lived with Renji most of her life ,she could take it.

"Hey Rukia."

He looked over at her with a devilish smile

"Huh" as she looked over at him he nudged her a little throwing her off balance causing her to stumble into a wall with a thump causing him to get the lead .

"That was so not fair." She yelled down the hall after him for the umpteenth time.

He looked back at her with a cocky smile "Is that all you can say."Tuning around using a last kick of speed he smirked to himself.

Right before he reached the door knob he felt a tiny fist grab hold of the back of haori trying to pull him back but, she only got the haori and not the hakima so she only got a piece of the flowing robe which didn't slow him down a bit .

He just barely got hold of the door knob because her hand was on top of his on the piece of metal. One second slower and it would have been her hand and the knob.

Looking down at her hand she quickly let go biting the side of her lip. A slight dusting of pink spread across her cheeks and nose.

" Ha!" he exclaimed " I win." He had felt her little hand lift off his like it was on fire the light tinge of pink on her cheeks slightly endeared him. " Like I said Kuchiki your face is going to stay that permanent stage of red." This only made her blush harder.

Making a little huffing noise she glared up at him changing the subject quickly. "You only won." She stressed the words. "Because _you _cheated."

He gave her a cocky smirk. " But I still won."

He watched as she rolled her eyes with a slight smirk.

"Well at least end the suspense and open the door . I know you what to see what they have given you."

Shuuhei held his breath as he slowly unlocked the door because he really wasn't sure what he was going to find on the other side of the door. Would it be just like his apartment back in the barracks ? It could be a shoe box because this was a place they did not spend a lot of time in.

Truthfully he was actually a bit worried because the small woman behind him was used to such amazing manors that this might not be a good enough for her to reside in even for a short period of time, but then again why was he worrying at something like this.

"Well aren't you going to open it." She looked at him then back to the door with an exited little smile.

Shaking his head he held his breath and unlocked the door pushing it open. He stood to the side like the gentleman he never was to hold the door open and let her in first.

"Wow." He heard her whisper as he walked in behind him.

Wow was right this wasn't just a barrack apartment it was a full two story condo. He stood in the foyer for more than a long minute to digest what he was taking in. He had a foyer, he started to laugh he actually had a bloody foyer never in his wildest dreams did he ever think that he would ever own something like this.

It all felt sir real to him as he looked around in wonder. Looking down at his walk way into the house it was pristine white and gold marble. Looking up it had high vaulted ceilings and stainless steel modern and recessed lighting .

So far it looked so clean just from the walk way he could tell this wasn't a party house it wasn't a you could leave cups and plates all around or risk having anything spill on the floor. If he were honest with himself he liked it . It was a place that he could honestly tell people no ,they couldn't come over and trash.

It was one of the things he had often gotten in the soul society people used his apartment as a party house that they could come in and trash without worrying because everything had been dark and stains could be easily cleaned . Plus it was very rarely calm or clean with the traffic that came through it . Some days he would come home and find people he did not know sleeping on his couch or playing his video games. People thought that just because he was a "musician" he didn't mind the cluttered mess or uninvited guests . It wasn't like he was opposed to a good party or going out and having fun but, when it was constantly at his expense it got to be too much.

Taking his time he started to walk further into his house. It became a little more overwhelming the carpets were white ,and plush nice for digging your toe's in, and just feeling comfortable . He laughed again to himself and shook his head. Again he thought to himself this truly was a sir real experience he couldn't believe he would ever be calling carpet comfortable…. It was good.

Looking around he couldn't find Rukia anywhere but, he could feel her little presence it amazed him she never tried to hid herself to sneak around. He always seemed to be able to feel her if she were somewhere around him.

" Oh this is so cool! " he heard her exclaim .

Curiously he followed her voice into the other room, and it was sweet indeed. It made him smile a great deal. It was an entertainment room, but not just any entertainment room he looked at the system and his eyes just about popped out of his head. He had died and gone to little Shuuhei heaven in front of him was one of the most beautiful sound systems he had ever seen . He just stood there and stared at it taking it and all of it wonderfulness in. He had 46 in flat screen T.V , he started to grin, Bose Home Sound System, His grin got wider, and a Fender half stack amp for his guitar .He had hit nirvana.

"Umm Shuuhei." Rukia said hesitantly.

Her little voice had jerked him out of his euphoric daze .Looking down at her he saw her looking up at like he was he absolutely out of his bloody mind.

She laughed a little at seeing his expression, "I think you were drooling."

He rolled his eyes. "I was not drooling."

Looking up at him with more amusement she smirked. "Fine then you were ogling. I mean I knew you were going to have a reaction to it I just didn't think you would practically have an orgasm when you saw it." She snickered.

He looked at her flatly . "I did not practically have an orgasm."

"Wow sex must be really bad for you if that can get you **that **worked up." She said as she walked away.

Speaking without think he yelled after her "So says the virgin." As the last word passed his lips he cringed he was speaking to Kuchiki Byakuya's Imouto-san like that .He had seen the Taichou threaten men who had done less than that .

However in the end it was at least a little worth it . He smirked to himself as he watched the tips of her ears turn bright red.

" I'm not even going to honor that with a response ." He heard her yell from the next room stiffly.

Shuuhei laughed to himself "Yes Kuchiki Taichou." He yelled after her.

He continued to smile as he watched her stomp back into the room. Walking right up to him she punch him in the shoulder amazingly hard for someone her size.

"That." She put her hands on her little hips. "Is for acting like Renji."

"I am not that pineapple head!"

He watched as her eyes flair indignantly . "You pushed me into a wall like he would have,."

He couldn't help but laugh out loud. " I wanted my bedroom." He gave her his most charming smirk.

Rukia suddenly started to grin. " You just didn't want to be beat by a lowly lieutenant."

He looked down at her and arched an eyebrow. " That's right you are a "lowly" lieutenant and I did beat you."

He watched her huff indignantly. " You know what. . . Your acting like a twenty five year old."

"I'm acting like a twenty five year old . You were the one who pulled **my** haori !"

He glared down at her and watched her huff indignantly. Flipped her hair over her shoulder she turned around starting to walk away .Before she got through the door she paused for a moment then turned around as she reached the door frame . "You still cheated."

Shuuhei rolled his eyes "What are you going to go run and tell your Nii-sama."

Rukia's eye got huge as a little flicker of anger passed through them. " Are you implying that I'm spoiled ,and have to have my Nii-sama fight my battles for me?"

He shrugged. "If the shoe fits."

She thrust a little finger up at him. "I'll have you know that I worked my way up to where I am I was just a lowly street urchent like you. I had to work my ass off."

He rolled his eyes. " Sure" the words came out flippant.

"Are you so dumb you forgot I grew up with Renji ,and we came to the soul society together?"

At that point words really did elude him. He actually didn't know that she had grown up with Renji as a matter of fact he thought that she had just been a fellow student that Renji had taken under his wing.

"I."

Rukia gave a tired sigh. "You really didn't did you?"

All Shuuhei could do was shake his head.

Shaking her head she took a deep breath. "Shows how much attention anyone really pays to me." She laughed a little self deprecatingly. A small look of sorrow passed her face so fast he almost didn't catch it "So." She said quickly changing her entire mood and confusing the hell out of him " I still think your bitter a girl almost beat you and its sad you almost came at the sight of the entertainment room."

Oddly enough he should be happy she flipped her mood so drastically .It avoided so much drama, and emotional stickiness but, he wasn't . He found himself wanting to know a little more about this little creature that he was going to be sharing space with. He found he knew a lot about most of members of his class when they graduated but, he knew nothing about her. All he really knew was that she was Renji's best friend ,and she had tea with her Taichou on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

He had never seen her going out with them to a bar after work for a cup of saki or two. He had certainly never seen her with Renji at any of the parties that were held at his apartment . Hell even at the squad eights Christmas parties he had never seen her pick up a cup of saki . She would just sit there quietly with Kuchiki Taichou politely talking with Unahanna and Ukitake Taichou. It hit him as odd that he had never seen her really interact with anyone else, and all . Everyone else said that she was a sweet girl and a lot of fun to be around.. . . . How did he miss this?

Pulling himself from his thoughts he looked down at her. " I still think you're a bitter loser."

She flipped him off and walked around the room to further inspect it.

He had to smirk to himself this mission would be fun the Kuchiki girl has spunk .Renji was right there would never be a dull moment. Taking one last look at the fabulous entertainment center he watched Rukia as she walked around the room. It was a spacious living room with a fabulous sound system. Again the spaciousness of the house seemed to get to him . The ceilings where high and vaulted with high windows that drown the room in sunlight everything in the house was white so it gave the room an ethereal look to it. All the furniture took on the monochromatic white the rest of the house was . Big white over stuffed couches with matching arm chairs everything looked so plush to him even though it should have felt cold a sterile with everything being white it somehow felt warm and cozy.

He watched curiously as Rukia further inspected the large rooms for someone with so much fire in her she moved with such grace . The woman was truly a dichotomy she skimmed her fingers around the marble counter tops of the kitchen ,and look at it all with a sense of wonder. If he didn't know better he could swear that she had the same overwhelming feeling that he had at the moment with sheer size and grand state of this house.

" It's beautiful."

He heard her mumble.

He was curious and a little confused "How can this possibly be beautiful to you , you live like this every day."

Rukia looked over at him thoughtfully. "You're clueless."

Taken back a few steps he looked at her like she was out of her mind. "How am I clueless, you live in a freaking manor."

"It's not mine, and besides cant I just find something pretty?"

He looked at her with some amusement. "Pretty or quaint little miss I live in a manner?" He smirked and wiggled his eyebrow.

She smiled a true smile "Your doing this to get under my skin now aren't you?"

He found he liked to watch her smile like that .She looked so much less serious then she had at the dinner the previous night and it suited her much better.

He walked over to the couch and leaned against it. "Maybe."

He watched her roll her eyes and start to walk up the stairs.

Once she had disappeared into the other room he took a look around at the well furnished house and for some reason he started to think about dinner the night before. Truth be told it had been a disturbing experience. If more truths were told even if she end up being a snob which it didn't look like she would be he still felt more comfortable having her hear in the human world with him , and as far away as possible from that arrogant ass hole Izo as he possibly could get her because no one deserved that fate .

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Rukia walked up the stairs up to the top part of the house for as much as she had seen of it , it was amazing nothing like any of the Kuchiki manors here or in the soul society . They were beautiful but not very modern everything was still wood and tatami mats .They were lavish ,but sparse everything was polished to a shine they were beautiful. However none of them had an entertainment center like the one down stairs. She had begged her Nii-sama to get her a TV for years, and when he finally broke down and bought her one it was one that was made eons ago that she had getto rig a DVD player too. Somehow she though he did that on purpose.

As she walked down the hall she had to smile even though everything was a stark white it somehow felt like it was a home. She hmmed and continued to look for the next room to explore she wondered if Renji got a place similar to this as well . Throughout all of the years that they had known each other she really did think he above all others deserved this.

Opening the first door that she found in the hall way she found a full command center giving Shuuhei access to the entire data base of the soul society. It truly wasn't fair he had a computer . . . he has more than one computer she thought dryly ,and everything that would have made her life so much easier in the times she had been to the real world . . . So much easier.

"You suck." She mumbled to herself.

"Why do I suck?"

Hearing his unfamiliar voice made her almost jump out of her own skin. She gestured to the full command center that he had .

"That is why you suck."

She dug around her pocket ,and pulled out a cell phone and looked at it with a bit of irritation.

"You get an entire command center, and I just get a cell phone."

She watched him reach out his arms lace his fingers together and pop them simultaneously with another smile as he looked over the room.

"Your right it is pretty cool."

She dropped her hands to her side in exasperation shaking her head. "Do you even know to use all of this stuff?"

He gave her a flat look. "No I'm a moron."

"Well you are chasing after Matsumoto and spend your nights at bars." She grinned . it was her time to get under his skin.

"I do not spend all my nights at bars." His irritation growing.

She couldn't help but wink. "See what it's like to be unfairly judged."

She watched him open his mouth then close it ,and couldn't help but take a longer look at him. She couldn't figure it out, but she had a feeling there was more to this man than what he portrayed on the outside.

Leaving him in the room gaping at least she knew that living here for a short time there never would be a dull moment, and perhaps she would learn what it would be like to live the way the rest of her friends did. She knew she was horribly sheltered by her Nii-sama she also knew that he perhaps spoiled her just a bit. Well there was no perhaps her dear Nii-sama spoiled her a great deal, but with every great thing came with a great price . She didn't have a life like her friends did which wouldn't be so bad ,but they all got to go out, and pick out the people that were to going to associate with .

Her mind wandered about being able to "picking out people" she want in her life .Then she thought of Izo she couldn't help but shiver. If it were up to her she would have never chosen to even acknowledge his existence the man was absolutely repugnant, and mean spirited ,and that was not the way she wanted live out the rest of her days.

Leaning her head and shoulders on the wall she let out a deep breath her mind settled on one of the good people in her life Jushiro Ukitake her Taichou and long time friend. Once in the privacy of his own office he asked for her hand in marriage if the need were ever to arise. He was in high enough standing in his clan that the Kuchiki nobles would more than welcome the match. If this ever transpired he promised her there would be no strings attached, no wifely duties ,nothing to hamper her. He would let her be a free woman to do what she wanted, and live out the rest of her days in peace . He was a sweet, comforting, and caring man . She could very easily see herself living with him it might be like living with the father she never had and always wanted.

Letting out another deep sigh she let her thoughts go to the unthinkable or so she though. With a soft honest smile she had to admit even though he was much older than she was he was far from an unattractive man ,and perhaps someday it could maybe turn into something more if they let it .They both had so much more life yet to live ,and again he wasn't an unattractive man but more than that he was a kind man, and amazingly enough the thought of that relationship growing did not repulse her at all.

"What are you thinking?" a voice came from behind her .

"If Ukitaki Taichou would still be willing to marry me."

Shit! she had spoken without thinking because she was so lost in her own thoughts . She could feel her face turning as red as a beat right to the vary tips of her ear. Turning around very slowly she bit the corner of her lip feeling wholly embarrassed.

A look of worry crossed Shuuhei's face before it quickly passed and he smirked with a stifled laugh. " I never knew you had an Elektra complex Kuchiki."

He just gave her a **HUGE **out. Turning her nose up trying at act like a little snob she turned sharply. " I'm surprised you even know what that means." She really did feel bad for saying that it was quiet mean, and she was not a mean person by any means.

Slouching a little bit as she walked away she could have palmed her forehead for saying that out loud but , it was a fact that Ukitake Jushiro would be more than happy to get her away from Izo or anyone that would hurt her.

Coming out of her thoughts she made her way down to the other end of the hall to a set of double doors . Curiosity got the best of her ,and she had to know what was behind them. Opening the door slowly she gasped at the huge room behind the door. It had to be the most elegant bed room she had ever seen much like the rest of the house it was white ,and extremely plush. The bed alone was huge with big fluffy pillows strewn all over it ,and a comforter that was so soft it looked like it would envelope anyone who slept it in, and at the moment it looked like heaven for her to just sink herself down into. Six to seven feet in front of the bed there was a huge fire place with a beautifully carved lime stone mantle. Like the rest of the house it had large windows that let in vast amounts of light . The unique thing about this room was that the bed side tables and dressers where a dark cherry oak that sharply contrasted with the rest of the room.

Rukia sighed a little if she were just a few seconds faster this would have been hers .It looked like she was going to go sleep in her usual closet . Not that she minded horribly it gave her a little place of her own, and that was nice. Now all she had to do was find a few blankets and pillows and an accommodating closet.

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Shuuhei hadn't followed Rukia directly down the hall because he was to stunned to move when he heard Rukia's omission . He couldn't believe she was wondering if Ukitake Taichou would marry her ,he had to admit he had known that the two were close, but never close enough for the proposition to have ever been made. Granted Jushiro was a great man, and born of noble blood ,and could offer her family all the quality's they would or could ever want, but true question was what about Rukia's happiness? Would she really be happy marrying the Taichou?

Taking a deep breath he ran his hands through his hair and walked down the hall to the double doors that he had just seen her walk out of with a big pile of blankets and pillows.

Walking into the a room that she had just come out he saw one of the most amazing bed rooms he had laid eyes on . Then it hit him as to why she had all those blankets and pillows in her hands .He had made the deal that if he won and he got the bed room, but this was the only bed room he had found in the damn place.

Taking a deep breath he knew he couldn't let her sleep in a closet it wasn't the fact that Kuchiki Taichou would kill him if he let her sleep in another closet it was the simple fact that his chivalry would not let a woman sleep in a closet no matter who she was.

"Damn it." He whispered to himself as he took off out of the room.

He had caught her half way down the stairwell trying to balance all of the covers and what have you so she wouldn't fall.

" Where are you going?" He yelled down to her.

She looked at him like he was out of his mind. " I found a closet down stairs. You won the bedroom fair and square." She hoisted the covers up from slipping again."

"You're not sleeping in a closet." He said firmly.

"Then where am I going to sleep?" she looked up at him exasperatedly

Frowning to himself that truly was the 45 thousand dollar question , where was she going to sleep?

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**So what did you all think of the Ukitake slant . I was playing around with the idea and happened to like it . **

**Love it . hate it , have any more idea's let me know : )**

**And Please Read and review= a happy author **


	6. Chapter 6

**So here it is finally sorry it was so late this story is one of my pet projects and I want to do Rukia and Shuuhei justice in my character depiction *cross's her fingers and hopes for the best*. I only went over this story a few time after I wrote it so I hope at least I got most of the major glitches in it out. So please be tolerant if there are any major grammatical errors . And without more adue the chapter.**

**So due to multiple comments and obvious errors i am reposting this chapter with some corrections .and fyi IT WILL MORE THAN LIKELY NOT BE PERFECT sorry. But I would also like to say thank you again to everyone who has been kind enough to read this story and hang in there with me it has meant a lot**

**Enjoy**

Rukia stood in the middle of the stair case staring up at Shuuhei with confusion. If she wasn't going to sleep in the closet down stairs where was she going to sleep? Did he want her upstairs in the big closet , she really wasn't one to care for propriety all that much , but still it would be odd considering she really didn't know him. Well she knew him , but she really didn't '_know' _him_. _She mentally shrugged, and grabbed onto the banister because she was starting to lose her balance while trying to carry all the pillows and bedding.

"We will figure out where you will be sleeping later."

She heard his voice somewhere in front of her. She had no idea where he was because she could only see around the pillows not up over them . Looking around them he was no longer on the top of the stair case, and that disorientated her a bit because she didn't want to turn around, and accidentally bump into him, lose her balance and make herself look like a bigger klutz than she already could be like she did when she fell off the chair when he walked into her office. So she just sort of laughed nervously.

"Okay." The words came out a little strained as she started to inch her way around so she could attempt to turn around. 'Darnet" she thought to herself 'I was doing so well going down the stairs too.'

She paused for a moment and wrinkled her nose ' When did I start caring so much about what he thought about me?'

Suddenly she felt half the weight she was carrying get lifted out of her arms which was nice, but it was also met with a cocky grin.

"There now you can see over the stack of fluff."

His smile was nice hell even his cocky grin was nice .As she looked up at him she could feel the blush start to creep up along her cheeks after she thought that . Realizing she was staring at him caused her to turn scarlet.

Trying to save her pride she huffed indignantly.

" I'm not that short I could have handled a few pillows going down stairs."

As she started to march down the stairs she heard him laugh more.

"You know your face is going to stay that shade of red if you keep that up, and no you couldn't because guess what . . . your short, and somehow I don't think falling off things is new to you."

This time she could actually huff indignantly because she did remember all to clearly him catching her after she fell off the precarious stack of books.

"That was only once!"

" Suuuurrrreeeee." He was closer behind her as he drew out each syllable of the word causing her to blush again.

"You know I didn't know that the tips of someone's ears could get red from blushing . A sun burn yes, but Kuchiki your are truly talented if you can even make your ears blush."

She heard him chuckle more to himself.

'Yeah laugh it up' She thought grumpily because she did not want to add fuel to this particular fire , but even her ears turned red why had no one told her this sooner. Go figure her Nii-sama was right when he told her she really did have a lousy poker face. . . ' Oh well.'

Finally reaching the landing she stuffed one of the smaller blankets under her arm so she could prove she could move with at least some grace. She wasn't even going to bother to turn around to see where he was at because some how she instinctively knew he was only a few feet behind her.

Unceremoniously she let the bedding flop on the couch in a tangled mess .At this point she really didn't care because this was probably where she would end up sleeping any way. It was odd to her though as she watched Shuuhei walk carefully around her with the covers still neat and perfectly piled in his arms because he just as unceremoniously set them down next to her jumbled pile. He looked over at her a smirking once again.

"I always thought you would be neater."

She mentally frown she usually was , but for some reason now she was extremely grumpy , and didn't feel like it .

"I thought you would be messy so it wouldn't have mattered."

She gave him a flat look and leaned against the couch pulling one of the pillows up into her lap for some reason she felt really tired and the day wasn't even half over , but it felt like she had been awake for days.

" I think I will just chalk that one up to you being cranky."

She went to open her mouth, but his words got out before hers did.

" Hell I think I would be cranky too if I had to deal with the ass hole known as Izo."

All she could do was laugh because that did have a lot to do with her mood, lack of sleep , lack of food and dealing with complete stupidity.

She nodded her head and wrinkled her nose in slight embarrassment. " Yeah dealing with that sort of stupidity does sort of turn me into my Nii-sama."

He looked down at her for a long moment looking to be thinking of something, and she hoped to god not scheming of a way to get her drunk.

"You know what." He looked down at her with a mischievous smile. " Me being the mere commoner that I am feels like getting something as mundane as ice cream."

Her eyes widened with excitement that was the exact thing that she had been craving for the last few weeks , and now she didn't have to sneak out to try to get some for fear of looking to childish considering she had a strong feeling he had already spotted the Chappy key ring she had attached to her bag .

Looking up at him with an equally mischievous grin " I think I _may_ be able to stand something as common as that."

Her dramatics cause Shuuhei to laugh. " I wouldn't want to put the princess out and make her stoop to my level."

Gasping with a little laugh she picked up the pillow that was behind her and threw it at him playfully. " If you think I'm a princess you have another thing coming buddy."

Shuuhei looked around innocently but she could see a hit of smile on his face. " Fine then you're not a princess . Kuchiki – Sama." He winked at her.

She rolled her eyes. "That's _much_ better Shuuhei Taichou, but I prefer dono." She grinned. " Its Kuchiki-dono get it right." She playfully stuck her tongue out at him."

"How about I just call you a brat and be done with it." He tossed the pillow back at her playfully.

Standing from her perch on the couch she tried to look indignant. " Hey now there will be no abusing nobility." She playfully stuck her nose up in the air trying to look like a spoiled brat.

"Abusing nobility" He shook his head walking up to her. "That was nowhere near abuse. This." He paused and pushed her shoulder trying to make her fall back on the couch." Would be abusing nobility"

With a look of pure surprise she grabbed his hand and pressed it close to her chest firmly and pulled him close to her as she rolled back pulling him over her using his own momentum to throw him over her causing him to compensate and shoulder roll off the couch. Standing she brushed herself off with a smug smile as she turned around.

" And that my dear is what I call getting schooled by a prissy noble." Pulling her hands on her hips she stuck her nose up in the air . " and now I want ice cream ." The harder she tried to keep her air of superiority the more she fought not to laugh .

"Anything for Princess Kuchiki" He stood and brushed himself off.

"As it should be" She tried her hardest to sound arrogant.

Before she could say another word she felt herself get picked up and throw over his shoulder.

"What the." She pressed herself up on his shoulder looking at him confused.

"Well I must get her highness there is style." There was a teasing tone to his voice.

" Ummm sweetie." She said still looking at him now with more amusement. "How do you suppose we get ice cream if people can't even see us?"

He paused right before he got to the door opening his mouth to refute that but she cut him off before he could get a word in edge wise.

"We sorta need our gigai's to actually become corporal ." Giggling she pushed herself off his shoulder to face him putting her hands on her hips she shook her head clicking her tongue in disapproval " And here I thought they trained you taichou to be more observant." Shaking her head in faux disappointment she turn around to go look for her bag . Before she got a few steps she felt his arms around her waist pulling her into him and about ready to tickle her , but they both stopped awkwardly at the feeling of the closeness of their bodies. Stepping away from each other they both couldn't look at each other for a long moment.

"Brat."

She felt the blood rush to her cheeks as he broke the tension.

"Go get your gigai oh observant one." She tried in vain to joke before bounding up the stairs to retrieve her things .

**XxxxoooxxxxxxX**

Thank god she left her bag up in big bathroom in the bedroom she didn't think she could face Shuuhei looking like an air head again because she forgot her bag was down stairs. Dropping to her knee's she started to shuffle through her bag to find something to wear. She huffed at the small selection she had stuffed into her bag. Looking into the neatly folded pile of cloths nothing looked sufficient to be going out with a man that looked like Shuuhei. Sitting back on her heals she rested her hands on the tops of her thighs frowning.

They would look absolutely awkward walking together down the street because he was so much to take in tall, handsome, confident. She would just have to face it he was much like Renji who made every woman from the ages of conception to death stair, drool and other wise look like utter morons around him to get his attention . That or they would stumble over things because when they turned to look at him they would trip over something because they forgot there was anything else in front of them. Then again people were worse around her Nii-sama ,and she said people because it wasn't just women but men too and oh god help the general populous if he even decided to look amused or render something that look like it could be the start of a smile because that could even make a nun blush.

Shaking her head she let out a contemptuous growl at her bag and perhaps herself as well . She had gone out with Renji and her Nii-sama more times than she could count and never had a problem picking out something to wear. Hell she even went out with both of them at once, more than once and never had a hard time picking out something to wear. Standing she glared down at her pack and put her hands on her hips in pure frustration from not packing more.

She paced the closet and looked into the mirror observing her appearance in the reflection. Turning to the side she frowned as she looked at her profile. Wrinkling her nose she put her hands up under her boobs and pushed them up a little .

"Maybe I should have taken Mayuri up on his offer to experiment with those new jell in plants he was working on ."

Letting out an exasperated growl she threw her hands up in the air in frustration because she was clearly losing her mind .

"What is wrong with me! I'm just going to get ice cream with Shuuhei"

Running her hands through her hair she shook her head she truly felt like a crack head it was _just _Shuuhei so unless she had a rack like Matsumoto there was no way in hell he would . . . letting a more than frustrated scream out she turned around and started to dig through her bag .She was sure she had brought her favorite green dress with her the damn thing had to be in there somewhere . Finding the dress through the mass of cloths that she had tossed around her as she went into her spinning rant to herself. She shook the now wrinkled dress out to get rid of the creases .

There it was her favorite green sun dress it was pretty and frilly something she never got to wear in the soul society and especially not around her Nii-sama .He had fits when she wore anything that showed her legs. That dress came down to her knee's which was extremely conservative in the human world It had and empire waist so it didn't hug any of her curves the only thing he could really bitch at was that the little cap sleeves were lace and showed her shoulders . It took all her persuasive skills a little bit of pleading and a trip to the human world to talk him into letting her keep it.

Looking up at a little digital alarm clock on the counter Rukia started to scramble. Her mild freak out cost her twenty minutes which meant that Shuuhei had more than likely been waiting down stairs for her for a while .

"Crap" She muttered

She scrambled to get dressed only to realize as she was walking out of the room she had on two different pairs of shoes . Palming her forehead she threw the one she didn't want back into the closet letting it hit something with a resounding thump and threw more things around to find the one she wanted. Half running half hopping out of the room trying to put on the other shoe she stumbled and ran into the banister.

"Fu….."

Whatever she was thinking at that current moment went out of the window as she looked down into the living room. Pacing the living room stood a half clothed Shuuhei with his back to her he was beautiful whatever she was expecting him to look like this wasn't it . His shoulders were broad and muscular and extremely well defined every muscle in his back was defined his lats v'ed perfectly into a waist and hips that where not to narrow or to thick to top it off he had just enough of a butt that you could see two extremely sexy dimples right above the waist band of his jeans . Tilting her head to the side she did have to admit that said jeans hung very nicely from said hips .

Every brain cell she had or she thought she had left her. All she could do was sit there and stare at him it was like her feet were glued to the floor and her brain was stuck on stupid. She had to do something , anything she could not just stand there and stare at him like a dim whit .

"uumm…"

Great she thought to herself that was an intelligent sound.

**XooooXoooooXoooX **

Shuuhei stared at his phone in disbelief the random list that he had received from Mayuri had just gotten longer, and if possible even odder. He had to do a double take because half , well most of him wanted to believe that this new list was just Renji playing a huge joke on him to see how far he could push he and Rukia. He actually had to call Renji to make sure that it wasn't him screwing around , but after about fifteen minutes of the other man swearing up , down , left and right that it wasn't him Shuuhei finally believed him . However after he called Renji he knew that he had to call Mayuri himself to make sure that he had gotten everything the creepy man wanted.

But seeing as he had to make those disturbing calls he was only able to get himself half dressed .

"Well"

He thought to himself at least he had his pants on because it actually took him a few moments because he watched Lieutenant Kuchiki ascend the stairs . He couldn't believe that he had actually acted so cavalierly around Princess Kuchiki because really that is what she was. No matter how much they had joked about it she was still a princess hell she was Byakuya's sister . It was hard to see her as that though with as much as they had been playing around all day. In his mind princess where prissy snobs or well the ones he had meet had been all of that and more. Rukia was none of that she was smart, and sweet , and playful , and beautiful . Amazingly enough Renji was right he could get lost in her sparkling violet eyes , but what got him was when she laughed. It was a bright laugh that made everyone else around her want to laugh with her . Granted she was no bomb shell he didn't think he had ever seen her in anything other than her Shinigami uniform and Sod-no-Sukiyaki attached to her hip she was almost one of the guys . . . Almost.

As long as he could see her as Princess Kuchiki and one of the guys he thought he could be good around her . She was hands off besides she really wasn't his type she didn't have a rack like Matsumoto did or any curves what so ever she pretty much looked like a stick . Besides he didn't even think she knew what it was like to actually live outside the walls of the Kuchiki estate she was probably naïve. Putting his phone in his back pocket he started to pace he was even starting to sound pathetic he didn't believe a word of what he was saying short of the fact that she wasn't a bomb shell. Closing his eyes he tilted his head back and ran his hands through his hair. He was so screwed or perhaps not perhaps he just needed to get some. It had been a while, that must be it he was just going through with drawls and he just needed a real woman.

He let out a long breath ,that thought made him feel a bit better even if in the back of his mind he knew it was a lie it was a still a pretty thought, but then he heard it .

"uumm."

It was a soft sound that came from the top of the stair case. Turning around he looked up and saw Rukia standing there looking like a doll. Standing at the top of the stairs stood a woman , he had to group his thoughts because of cores Rukia had always been a woman, but she was a Shinigami woman not a normal woman .

He watched as she bit the inside of her lip and a light blush started to spread across her cheeks.

"Hi." She said weakly as she started to descend the stairs.

It was no wonder Kuchiki kept his sister under lock and key at all times because underneath the black Shinigami robes was all woman. While she was far from a center fold she had a subtle beauty to her she wasn't overly curvaceous but she did have gentle curves . But most of all as he was finding out her uniform lied to the world! She had boobs! They weren't huge but they were enough to make any mans mouth water especially with the way top of her dress gently cupped them pushing them up ever so slightly. All he could do was move down her body from there the dress wasn't form fitting so he couldn't get an accurate assessment of her waist or hips ,but if her legs were any indicator of what the rest of her looked like he had no doubt that the rest of her was just as nice . He now understood why Renji beat his head into a wall over and over again all of the years that they had know each other because he was now doing just that.

"Shuuhei?"

He shook his head to clear his thoughts as her voice penetrated his thoughts.

"Yes?"

She looked over him critically for a long moment."Are you okay?"

Shuuhei nodded his head "Of course." He said a bit faster and less convincing that he wanted to . " I just got the rest of Mayuri's list." Even he couldn't help but cringe involuntarily at the thought of the list that was lengthening.

The exasperated look that crossed Rukia's face made him smile because even when she was exasperated she was cute.

"Are we going to die trying to get all of his stuff." She put her hands on her hip and rolled her eyes. "Because I don't know what a weed whacker is , but if it's something worse than those damn creepy hollows we are supposed to be looking for I am making _you_ touch it."

The awkward air that hung between them quickly disbursed as he started to laugh again

"Aww is the little princess afraid." He said grinning deviously at her.

Shaking her head she started to laugh . " No , not usually , but the last time I stepped foot in that damn squad head quarters when Nemu touched me her hand exploded , and my arms turned purple, and I broke out in hives. It took me two." She held up two fingers to emphasize it . " Two weeks for my arms to go back to normal.

"That was you!" Shuuhei started to laugh and he couldn't stop . He had heard that someone that entered squad twelve and turned purple .

"Yes that was me." She said testily. " Now go put on a shirt so we can get ice cream."

All he could do was nod because he was still laughing. "Kuchiki Taichou must have had a fit." He said as he walked back to his bag.

"No," he heard the clear irritation that still lingered in her voice. "He laughed too then sent Renji there the next day to see if it would happen to him."

Shuuhei hadn't laughed this hard in a long while. "Who knew Kuchiki was that much of a sadist?"

"You should try living with him" he heard her mutter.

He shook his head ,he used to thinking living life as a Kuchiki would be a cake walk but after what he saw Rukia go through the last few days he really wasn't quite so sure . Pulling a tee-shirt over his head then a hoddie he turned and reached for her hand without thinking.

"Come on." A charming smile spread across his face . He watched as she took it easily without a thought in the world. "Because if we wait much longer the shop will close" Opening the door for her he watched her move gracefully in front of him.

In the hall he watched her pull her hands over her head and stretch despite hearing a few bones pop the stretch did wonderful things to her body . The way her back delicately arched made him grown to himself because he was going to hell for the thought he was thinking . Thank god she was oblivious to his thoughts because if she weren't and told her brother he would be dead.

**XooooXoooX**

Rukia still couldn't believe how good he looked it really was a pity that he had to put a shirt on because she could have just sat there and stared at him all day in the state he was in. But who was she kidding she was just Rukia, plain old Rukia not a girl that many men paid much attention to. Besides he was treating her like one of the guys with the way he kept on teasing her .

As she walked into the hall she began to think about what Matsumoto said "she needed to get out there and show her stuff." So one Shinigami Women's Association meeting Matsumoto , Nanao and Momo taught her how to . . How did Nanao put it "Work it" . So now might be a good time to put what they had taught her into practice . What was the worst that could happen he would ignore her and keep on treating her like one of the guys.

So doing just that she stretched her body out the way they showed her to as Momo said it was "not the most obvious way to show off your body, but the most effective." She really couldn't believe she was getting advice from Momo.

Rukia cringed as she heard some of her joints pop, but she still let her body arch delicately letting her body roll back in from its stretch. She then looked back to Shuuhei who had a fairly vacant expression on his face. The lights where on but no one was home. She didn't know if that was a good thing or bad thing she was really hoping it was a good thing ,and he wasn't thoroughly disgusted with her bones popping.

Putting all her worries behind her she smile brightly because this was only the tip of what the girls had taught her.

"Come on." She grabbed his hand in hers and pulled him " I want ice cream and we are stalling."

**XoooXoooXoooX**

As she grabbed his hand Shuuhei decided that all women were evil and the little one standing in front of them was there leader because she had absolutely no idea what she was doing to him.

"You know what Kuchiki." He said as he led her lead him down the hall. " I don't think I like your attitude."

He watched her brush a stray piece of hair from her face and smile up at him.

"You haven't seen anything yet."

They walked in relative silence until they got out of the building. The sun had already set but the sky was still a dark purple and the air still had a spring like quality as there was a cool breeze that gently blew around them.

Normally silence was awkward, but somehow tonight walking with her it felt more like a comforting lull.

"So can you tell me anything that is on this new list?" She asked curiously as she looked up at him.

Closing his eye for a moment he let out a sigh." I will tell you when I first read it I thought it was Renji playing a joke on us."

She cringed and made a slight hissing noise. " It's that bad."

All he could do was nod his head. "He wants us to get a wombat ."

She stayed silent for a long while as they continued to walk. Down the street, the street lamps slowly started to turn on casting shadows over the streets occupants. He felt Rukia take a deep breath and shiver a little as the breeze blew through them. Instinctively he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer to him .

"Cold." He mentally snorted at his brilliance for stating the obvious.

"A little."

He pulled his arm tighter around her and they walked closely together.

"He wants a wombat?" She let out a deep breath seeming completely oblivious to the way they may have looked to people who passed by.

He snorted as he fell into a comfortable rhythm with her pace. " That's just the tip of the ice berg of what he wants."

She paused then stopped all together looking up at him as she wrinkled her nose. "But why a wombat?" She frowned "You know I'm not going to get it if it's going to be used in any of his sick projects."

He couldn't help but chuckle as he watched her nose scrunch. "Don't worry he said it is for Nemu, he said she wanted a pet and we needed to bring back a female wombat or at least the hair of one so that he could clone her one."

"I don't know if I should be relieved that it's going to be a pet or disturbed because well it's going to be their pet ."

He watched her wrap her arms around herself as the night air chilled. "Here " he pulled off his sweat shirt and gave it to her. Blushing a little she took the maroon hoodie and pulled it over her small frame it looked to be about ten sizes too big and he couldn't help but laugh at her.

"Laugh all you want I know I'm short ."

"No." He pulled her back against him "You're not short , your just vertically challenged."

This even got a laugh out of her as they fell silently into a peaceful step until they reached the ice cream shop that Rukia had told him about . He had to smile she had a hard time finding a large apartment building , but could locate a tiny ice cream shop in the middle of a large shopping district without a problem. Who was he to complain though ice cream happened to be one of his favorite foods and she had found it so all in all he was pretty happy.

" I found it ." there was a certain amount of triumph in her voice as he opened the door to the small shop.

He paused for a moment and internally wrinkled his nose , since when had he started to open doors for women and help them down stairs and just in general be so attentive. He shrugged, perhaps becoming a Taichou had changed him without him realizing it because it was sorta expected for them to be all polite and stuff.

He walked in after her and heard the door jingle closed due to the bells tied to the handle . This time he laughed out loud this sound wasn't one that he had paid attention to since he was a child it brought back a certain amount of nostalgia of the happiness that he had when he was just barely able to scrape by and actually go and get a small cup of this sweet confection. He was dirt poor when he was young and would some days skip his meals to get just one taste of the sweet treat , but it was so worth it.

He continued to smile as he watched Rukia ponder her selection because he found a small amount of irony in it , she was cold and yet she still wanted ice cream. That and she lit up like a kid just like he did when he made his selection all though he had to act much more reserved seeing as he had to keep his cool in most thing he did unless he wanted to get harassed by his friends.

"Will you hurry up so those of us behind you can get our ice cream too." He ribbed her good naturedly seeing as he was the only one behind her.

She stopped dead in tracks and grinned impishly at him before she tilted her head to the side, " But I just don't think I can make up mind." She paused for more than a moment making sure he knew she was dragging her selection out just to make him wait more. Looking back she still looked to ponder ."I mean there is chocolate , super chocolate fudge , Vanilla with raspberry." She grinned more deviously now. "But then there is the fruit selection I mean who can really pass up strawberry or " she gasped and oohed " Orange."

He couldn't help but laugh as she teased him back.

A moment later he watched her order a large super chocolate fudge peanut butter crunch, she truly was a girl after his own heart he loved that flavor only he topped it with Carmel sauce. Without thinking about it he paid for both of them not giving her a chance to pull out anything .

As he turned around from the cash register he slammed right into her now frozen body that was looking out the window. " No." she said sharply. "No." she shook her head. "It can't be." Her voice held a little bit of anger and a large amount of fear .

Standing in the window was Izo staring intently a Rukia.

Shuuhei had to think fast because the man's eyes shifted up to his glowering . He knew for a fact that it was the ass hole standing there in an inexpensive off the rack suit surrounded by two very un glamorous modern Geisha.

Putting his hand on her lower back he guided her to a table away from the window.

"It's not." He said carelessly . " I mean do you really think he would wear something that ill tailored or be caught dead with such cheep looking women."

Rukia frowned and gave the man one last look and shook her head and started to laugh. "Your right that's man's vanity would not allow himself to stoop that low and look that crass." She took a deep easy breath and chuckled. " I'm just seeing ghosts and a badly dressed one at that."

He looked over to the window that Rukia had her back to and watched the man's face contort and turn almost purple in anger. In that moment he had no doubt it was Izo , now what was he going to do about it?"

**There it was I know it was a bit longer than the other chapters have been , but I do hope it was an enjoyable read now that it has been slightly revised and looked over**

**So tell me what you think , Like it , Love it , did I get the characters completely cracked out. Reviews are always want so press that little button on the bottom and let it rip so to speak.**

**And please no flames I know where my short comings are.**


	7. Chapter 7

So first to start off by saying thank you , thank you , thank you guys for all the lovely reviews , author alerts , story alerts and adding to favorites over the last six months . Regrettably my muse went into hiding when I started school in the spring ( I think is from fear of all of this book learning stuff that was dumped on her) But I digress between work and school I barely had enough energy to see straight . However since it is summer and I only have work I will start to write again because the muse has returned

Xoxoxox - blackbubbledancer


	8. Chapter 8

Rukia couldn't help but stair at the enormous , amazing , most fantastic mouth watering cup of ice cream that she had ordered for herself . It looked perfect and for all intensive purposes it was perfect . She had been practically dreaming about this desert for months and now it was finally in front of her and she would devour each and every drop of it without a single fear of looking unladly like.

"Are you going to sit there and stare at it Kuchiki or are you actually going to eat it.?"

She arched her eyebrow in amusement as she looked up at Shuuhei. "Are you doubting my ability to eat this fantastically huge creation that is far superior to yours?"

She watched as his face contorted into a smile then a full fledged laugh. " Kuchiki" He looked at her , then to the ice cream , back to her , back to the ice cream and finally back to her with much amusement. " If you can eat the entire 'creation' as you put it. I will personally buy you any piece of Chappy merchandise you want on this trip."

She snorted with a large smirk, this boy really didn't know who he was deal with. "Any" she paused " Or all?" she grinned.

He looked down to the glob then back to her " All" he said with a cocky smirk.

"Promise?" she smiled darkly as she started to twirl some chocolate fudge around her spoon.

"I promise."

"Excellent." She smiled and dug into her first big spoonful.

**XoooXoooXoooXoooX**

He didn't know if he was watching in horror or fascination as she scraped the last little bit of ice cream off the bottom of her bowl. Considering he was only half way done with his and he had almost reached his limit he was leaning a little more towards fascination. "How?" He looked at her genuinely confused as to where in the hell she managed to put all of that ice cream.

"Don't ask how." She smiled brightly " Just smile , nod, and know you have just been had by Rukia Kuchiki, and never " She smiled playfully as she poked her spoon at him "Under estimate the power of Chappy the bunny."

He couldn't help but laugh he had just been conned by the one of the supposed nicest women in the entire Seireitei.

"Are you going to finish that?" she gave him a challenging smile " Because you know it would be really sad if a little girl like me could eat all of that ice cream and you couldn't even get through half."

"Are you mocking me Kuchiki."

Still smiling she nodded her head. " Yeah , I think I am ."

He couldn't help but smile back at her as she winked at him .

"But basically what I am telling you is to hurry your ass up because it isn't getting any earlier and there are a lot of Chappy things that are in need of buying ."

He almost choked on his bite of ice cream as he watched the haughty smile spread across her face . " Anything for the princess." He shook his head unable to believe had had suckered into it. He watched her lean back in her chair for a moment before a very full very uncomfortable expression passed her face.

"Eat too much."

"No" she said petulantly before she burped .

Shuuhei could help but laugh after she burped her face turned a level of red he never thought possible as she put her hand over her mouth and looked away

"I am sorry please excuse me"

He couldn't understand why she looked sorry . Embarrassed yes , sorry no. " No worries, that little burp told me you were lying through your teeth about being absolutely fine when you devoured that ice cream there for voiding the first part of our bet lowering it down to I will buy you one Chappy thing ."

"Hey!" she burped again and the painful color red crept up on her cheeks again. " No fair" she hiccupped.

He had finally finished his up feeling significantly more comfortable than she looked. " Come on Kuchiki let's get going . There is that one perfect Chappy item out there for you ." He looked down at her with a mischievous smile. " That is if you can actually move ." Holding out his hand to help her out of her chair he watched as she stuck her tongue out at him again , but took his hand raising gracefully . He couldn't help but smile again as he watched his large sweatshirt fall over her body seeming to envelope her from her chin to her knee's.

"The night is still young." He said looking up at the clock.

Taking a deep breath he watched her look out the big plate glass windows into the darkness for a long moment a soft frown graced her lips as she averted her eyes. "Lets just go back home."

He knew she was trying to sound normal but she was failing miserably. instinctively he knew there wasn't something quite right as he watched her look out into the darkness warily.

"This doesn't have anything to do with Izo does it?" He watched her eyes widen in surprise and slight alarm ,but she shook her head giving a strangled laughed

"Of course not" She looked up at him like he was stupid for even mentioning it, however could see through her false bravado.

Taking her hand he started to lead her to the door . "He can't hurt you." He said as they stepped into the night.

**XoooXooooXooooXooooXoooX**

He can't hurt you." His words wrung in her head . 'No she thought miserably but he could do a damn good job at trying to destroy her reputation.'

Letting out a little yawn she nodded her head " Your right he really can't do much damage to me here in the human world." She said off handedly trying to sound a lot more sure of herself than she really was. Keeping her hand in his she started to direct him toward the main shopping district because at least she knew where that was without a map.

She watched with a smirk as he looked down at her with an odd expression. " Were are we going short stuff?" he asked as he arched his eyebrow as the bright neon lights came into view.

Letting out a happy sigh she look up with a huge grin. "To the Chappy store there is a serious a hole I have to put in your bank account and a lot of Chappy stuff that has come out since I have been here last."

"You're serious?"

She nodded with the same smile " As a heart attack."

"You're going to drag me through a Chappy store ?" his words came out flat to match his un amused expression.

She nodded again as they got closer and closer to a big pink neon flashing Chappy sign . Her smile broadened as they got closer to the entrance of the store. " It's not so bad even Renji has been in here and if he can do it you can too."

His eyes widened " You conned Renji didn't you."

"MmmHmm. You know you guys seriously under estimate me."

"How much did he lose." Worry starting to creep into his voice.

Smiling darkly she waited as he opened the door for her. " His entire pay check." She heard him choke as she said it and it took everything she had not to laugh out loud. While it was true that she had conned Renji into taking her here she only made him sweat it out for an hour before they left with nothing . She was mean , but she would never be that mean .

" Oh, and just remember I know how much you guys make." Flashing him another quick smile she let go of his hand as she spotted some new Chappy figurines. As she browsed through the store she quietly watched as Shuuhei's eye's followed her around with a small look of horror every time she picked something up followed by a look of pure relief as she put it back on the shelf. There were a lot of neat little trinkets that she had not seen before , a new shirt had come out and a new stuffed Chappy with a sun hat and a pink one piece bathing suit, there was a few movie's and a wallet she could live with out , but there. . In the corner was the most wonderful thing she had seen to date ,great big fuzzy Chappy slippers . She had been looking for a pair every since her brother had deemed her other pair to worn out to even be considered tolerable to wear in their own home so they promptly disappeared after her last long mission. She had been looking all over the soul society for another pair but could not find them for the life of her. She silently cursed her brother, they weren't old and ratty , they were well loved with personality. She would have to make a mental note of where they were so that she could come back and get them before she left.

Walking back over to Shuuhei she smiled and grabbed his hand again leading him to the door. " Okay we can go now." She watched as his face turned into one more of confusion.

"There are so many more places that we need to stop bye because I can't make up my mind with what I want to surround myself with just going into one shop." She looked up at him with an exasperated expression as if he were dumb for even thinking that they would stop at just one shop .

Trying her hardest not to laugh as the expression on his face turned quickly from confusion to , dismay and perhaps annoyance . As she saw a little vein in his forehead start to raise she couldn't help herself as she started to crack up laughing . " Oh my god." She started laughed harder as the vein became more prevalent. "The look on your face was priceless when I told you we were going to go to more stores" She was laughing so hard she accidently snorted.

"You're a brat."He grabbed her wrist and tugged her out of the store with a look of amusement and not anger which was good in Rukia's book because Ichigo would have flipped a widget if she would have pulled that stunt on him.

**XoooXoooXooooXooooXoooooX**

He started to laugh as Rukia smiled sheepishly. " I actually thought you were going to break my bank account little miss con artist."

He watched as she smiled and shook her head still laughing. " No but the look on your face was priceless when you thought I was going to."

He couldn't help but think how pretty she looked when she laughed. As a matter of fact he didn't think he had ever seen her laugh when they were back home he would have to make her do it more often.

"That's it." He grabbed her small frame and pulled her close to him wrapping on arm around her he started to tickle her side and couldn't help laughing himself as he watched her struggle and laugh and squirm trying to get away from him.

"Nooooo." She said between fits of laughter and snorting as he continued his small assault on her causing the people around them on the street to stop and stair.

"Retribution sucks doesn't it?"

He let go of her and waited until she caught her breath a smile still on her face . Mentally he shook his head he couldn't believe how beautiful she was when she smiled . Her entire face seemed to light up and become more animated she looked nothing like the starched little Lieutenant the he occasionally saw walking around delivering paper work. It was a genuine laugh too one that came from her heart and made her beautiful violet eyes sparkle vibrantly .

He watched as she continued to pant regaining more control over her breathing but the smile never leaving her face. " That wasn't fair, you used your size against me."

He snorted. " You used my own credit card and good word against me . I think you were the one who got off easy." He watched her pause to think about this for a long moment then shrug with a mischievous smile

"Perhaps." Shifting her attention down the street she looked back to him and shook her head . "I know im switching tracks here hugely but I think you need to add color to your apartment." She said as they passed a home decorating store.

He couldn't help but nod in agreement because even though he liked the white it felt really sterile not even the Kuchiki manor looked that sterile. " I think your right " He felt her slip her small hand back in his as they walked quietly down the street just window shopping . He actually liked shopping with her she didn't talk incisively about this ,that ,or the other thing or just to hear herself talk . she didn't gasp or squeal every time she saw something cute , but ever so often he did find her pausing for a short moment to look in a store front window to look at something. At first he couldn't figure out what it was that she was looking at because all the stores were different. Somewhere high end boutiques , others were trinket stores , but after a few blocks he caught sight of the pattern she was creating . Every store window she looked into had those Chappy slippers that she had picked up at the actual Chappy store . Could she possibly want those ?

Casually looking in the shop window he paused. " Why did you not buy those slippers you picked up in the Chappy store."

"Hmm? She turn back to him from the flower shop window she was looking at across the street.

"The slippers why didn't you buy them"

She shrugged and smiled. " Because I didn't want to freak you out and I didn't want Nii-sama to chuck this pair out like he did the last one thinking they were the last one."

This made no sense to him as to why her brother would possibly throw out a pair of slippers.

She smiled softly. " He deemed them too old to even be worn in the house so he had one of the maids throw them out."

There wasn't much to say to that so he just shook his head.

"They weren't worn out they were just well loved" She chuckled at herself .

"You really can't have anything of your own can you?"

She looked up at him calmly he could see her carefully masking her expression. " What do you mean?"

He looked back into the store window the guitars were in . "They control everything you buy and own you can't keep much if they don't like it."

She closed her eyes for a moment. "I'd rather not talk about it." She looked back over to the flower shop with a soft smile. "But the flowers are pretty."

He let the subject drop with the more than obvious and less than graceful shift of the conversation. He nodded his head "They are." He looked at the store then down to her " You know I have never had a house plant let alone flowers in my own house."

"Really?" She sounded positively amazed by this bit of information.

He nodded. " I wouldn't even know where to start if I wanted one." He looked back into the flower shop " You said my house needed color didn't you."

She nodded.

"Then why don't you help me go pick out some."

She arched her eyebrow and looked at him like he was crazy again. " You actually trust me to pick out something to display in your home when I just dragged you through a store that Renji said made his masculine side lose brain cells?"

It was his turn to styful a snort. " He actually said that."

She nodded again " Ichigo won't even go near the store anymore."

He shrugged and hmmed. " I trust you , you are the one that puts the flowers in your tiachou's office every week and they are tasteful." He said practically .

She nodded her head and shrugged her shoulders ."I just try to keep his taste in mind and not to go to outlandish." Looking up at him she shrugged again nonchalantly " It is actually one of the few things I am good at."

This cause Shuuhei to pause for a brief moment because he was sure this little woman was good at a great many things . " What do you mean one of the few things you are good at ." He tried to make the words come out as inconspicuous as he could , but was pretty sure he had failed miserably in his attempt to hide his distaste in what the nobles inevitably crushed into her brain.

"Flower arrangements" She brushed her flinger tips lightly over the soft petals of a purple hydragia "I'm not a great singer. I can't play and instrument to save my life ." she paused and picked up a delicate white orchid. " I am descent enough not to embarrass anyone serving tea , but I am praised about my eye to the color and detail of flower arranging ." She smiled lightly as she put the fragrant flower in a basket she had procured from somewhere. " But don't even get me started on calligraphy." She snorted as she picked up a deep red rose.

"That bad" The words came out in quiet fascination as he watched her sort through the a section of glass vases.

"I make Nii-sama cringe" letting out a soft snort she picked up a beautiful mosaic urn .

Shaking his head in wonder he let a silent breath escape his lips . She really was self deprecating he was sure she couldn't be that horrible . It actually sadden him a bit to think she was that hard on herself because he was a perfectionist but even he had his limits to bashing himself. "I'm sure you cant be that bad at it."

She just snorted.

Watching in silent fascination as she decided on a large . vibrant orange , yellow and red mosaic vase because much to his surprise he actually like it and he wasn't one to like such loud colors. Continuing on she browsed through a section of flat cut crystal bowls that for the life of himself he couldn't figure out what they could possibly be for, but he remained silent , content just watching her relax and find a bit of peace in something she was familiar with. As he continued he got an idea as he watched her pull the sleeve of his sweat shit up over her shoulder.

"Hey babe mind if I go out for a moment to one of the shops across the way ?there was something forgot back in the soul society."

Glancing up at him she quirked a delicate eyebrow and nodded. "I'll be right here when you get back." With a dismissive look she returned to flower selection.

Hidding a smile he turned quickly making his way out the shop he never thought he would have the need to ever step foot in. Making his way across the street to the higher end boutique ever so conveniently named "The Lucky Rabbits Foot" she was peering into earlier . His smile got wider as he saw the rabbit slipper. Hopefully he was picking up the pattern of what she was looking at correctly and with that thought he threw his last bit of sanity out the window and made his way up to one of the sales women .

"Do you have those in a size small?"

Mentally crossing his fingers he really did hope this was what she was wanting because for some inexplicable reason he wanted to make her smile and perhaps make her crappy day a bit better.


	9. Chapter 9

**There isn't much movement in this chapter of the story as a matter of fact I am even hesitant of putting it up seeing as I only got two reviews from the last chapter that I released and believe me I would really like thank the people that did review. So I would really appreciate some feed to back with this chapter to see if I should consider continuing it or not **

**Other than that I hope you all enjoy **

The wind blew gusts of cold air and leaves around the foul little park . He couldn't believe he was actually standing in the middle of such a repugnant little place . The scent of common trash wafted into his nose and assaulted his senses. How on earth could his Rukia stand this pathetic little place? He would never understand why Kuchiki let his sister run wildly through such places in the soul society let alone in the human realm . It just stood to show that the tight wad noble wasn't as perfect as he wanted people to believe he was .

This thought made Izo smile because Kuchiki had always grated on his nerves the man was too damn perfect . He set an impossible bar for every other man of means to try and attain . The key word was try because in the eyes of the high house holds no one was as perfect or as respectable and Kuchiki, Byakuya every other man was just a dim comparison.

A low growl rumbled deep in chest as the anger started to build again. It was Kuchiki , Byakuya's fault he was looked down upon no matter how many lavish parties he threw. It was Kuchiki, Byakuya's fault he could not find a wife of good standing. He knew what the elders of the women in the lower house holds would say about him when they didn't think he was listening .if the lower house holds thought that way about him he really didn't want to know what the high house holds said about him . Just because he wasn't some mighty Taichou he was lesser and because he didn't live like a monk he had no moral standing?

A gust of wind assaulted him again causing his hair to muss .even the weather in the god forsaken little places was intolerable he thought to himself. as he tried to smooth it out into some semblance of being presentable .

his agitation grew .

It was just one more thing that made him lesser than Kuchiki Byakuya the man even had perfect hair . He heard the way women would talk about that man when they didn't think he was listening . How handsome they all thought the cold stoic man was .

Clenching and unclenching his fists Izo started to walk again seeing as darkness had already descended and he need to find a place to stay for the night now that he knew his little Rukia was not on the street . Thoughts of the small woman made his smile . She was so beautiful and respectable even though she wasn't born a noble she was still a shining example of what a noble woman should be . Now she , she would show everyone that he had class , that he was a man of means . When the Kuchiki elders signed her over to him the world would know he had finally bested the mighty Kuchiki Taichou .

Rukia was the perfect way for him to attain this goal besides she was a veritable no one the family should be lucky that a man of his means would even consider marrying her. But when he did , oh when he did there wasn't anything he wouldn't be able to achieve , because it was a well known fact that Kuchiki could not deny his little sister anything.

The knot that was tightly coiling in his stomach started to relax for a brief moment only to restrict again when he really thought about where his little Rukia was spending the night. Here is hoping the little bitch could manage to keep her legs closed until he could get her out of that wretched little apartment and away from that pathetic boy. He had seen the way they had their hands all over each other when they were trying to find that dismal little apartment . He had seen the way the impudent boy looked at her when they stood in that monk like bedroom . The _boy_ looked like he was already planning ways to strip her naked . Clenching and un-clenching his fists he couldn't keep the sneer from contorting his face . That _ boy_ just couldn't keep his hands off her. It galled him and made his blood boil he had seen how scared that _boy_ made her when she was standing in the ice cream shop the look she was giving him through the window , she was practically begging him to come and save her .

When he first saw the boy he wanted to rip the supercilious expression off his face , it was the exact expression Kuchiki Byakuya had . That boy had the same condescending air good Kuchiki Taichou carried , the same arrogant posture . No wonder Rukia was as terrified of him as she was her brother they were practically etched from the same stone. He really had to find a way to save her from herself and keep her pure so she wouldn't let herself get trapped into a hellish little nightmare of a life with that _boy._

**XoooXoooXoooXoooXoooX**

Rukia smiled to herself as she held up the bright red and orange glass vase , it would look beautiful in the window of her office because even in florescent lights of the harshly light store it cast a beautiful reflection . it really was a shame she couldn't take it home with her it would look lovely in the window of her room. Her brother wouldn't have a problem with it he usually indulged her when it came to her choice in decor even if it didn't necessarily compliment his own taste . However some of the tighter strung elders and pitched aunts would have a problem with its loud nature and would force Byakuya to make her take it out of sight and then it would disappear because one of them would tell the maids to get rid of it . Even though it was her Nii-sama's house they both had very little control of what they could keep . It was a depressing thought.

Sighing softly she set the vase back in the hand held basket and looked down at her purchases . The cut crystal vases would look beautiful sitting around the rooms of Shuuhei's flat . The stark cold beauty would only accentuate the color of whatever Shuuhei chose to put in it after the flowers she bought died out. She really hoped he would be happy with her choice in flowers the sun flowers just looked too happy not to buy and she just couldn't help herself when she picked up a bushel of the gardenia they just smelled so good and there classic beauty would accentuate any room they were place . Picking up one of the delicate white flowers she smiled softly they really would look lovely oh his coffee table . Perhaps if she shifted the small table a little closer to the television and aligned it with the window. . . . .

"You okay Kuchiki?"

Shuuhei's voice registered in the back of her mind lifting her away from all thoughts of reorganizing his living room.

"Earth to Rukia" the voice laughed behind her causing her to blush.

Walking around to face her he flashed her a smile that she was sure had broken a thousand hearts . Oddly enough it was easy to see in this light why most of the woman still got a goofy smile when he walked into the room the man could be devastatingly handsome .

This thought only caused her to blush harder than she probably already was.

"Yeah I'm great."

Giving her a cocky smirk he grabbed the basket "You sure princess . Your awfully red there . Do I even want to know what you were thinking about ." wiggling his eyebrow playfully and winked at her.

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response." She said as flat as she humanly possibly could trying to save whatever dignity she had left .

"Oh now you have to tell me what was causing you to blush that red." Nudging her softly he started to make his way up to pay for the things that she had placed in the basket.

"I was pondering the space time continuum." Reaching into the basket she plucked out the bright vase she had picked.

"If that's the look you get when you ponder that I would really love to see what color you turn when you think of something really interesting , Like oh say …"

Cutting him off she put the vase on the counter and turned back to him . "Women of my class don't think any thoughts remotely close to whatever it is your are implying that I could possibly thinking." With her nose up in the air she stuck her tongue out at him with a hmmf .

Laughing he plucked the vase out of her hands and placed it back in the basket . " I was just going to say what you looked like when you were thinking about flowers." He tried to look as innocent as possible.

Rolling her eyes Rukia snorted and reached back for the vase. "Flowers my butt."

You don't need to pay for that."

Giving her a more than confused look Shuuhei tilted his head to the side . " Why not it is for my flat is it not?"

Tilting her head to the side curiously she couldn't help but let a small smile grace her lips in quiet surprised. "You actually like such loud colors?"

Shuuhei just nodded his head. "yes princess I like color I cant live in a black and white world all the time." Scooting in front of her and taking the rest of the things she had gathered he placed it on the counter before reaching for his wallet.

"Wait." She hurriedly grabbed for the vase again. " I was buying the vase for myself." A slight blush graced her face. " I was . . . You see it would look really lovely , if I umm." The words started to tumble out of her mouth as Shuuhei expression started to change from confusion to amusement.

"I just thought it would look good on my desk." Hugging the vase closer to her she couldn't help but feel a little guilty because if Shuuhei wanted It , it would look lovely in his apartment and it would probably be more appreciated there too. So with a small frown common sense over road her and she started to hand the vase back to him . "But it would probably look better in your apartment."

Grabbing her by the elbow much to her dismay he pulled her out of line. Gasping in surprise she wiggled her arm free "What was that for I just offered you the stupid thing."

She watched as he glanced behind with a knowing smile. " there was a line starting to form and I have a feeling there is more to this than just you feeling guilty about not letting me have the vase . So what give Kuchiki?"

This was not a conversation Rukia wanted to have in this store or ever for that matter because the last thing she needed was for him to think she was just a poor little noble girl whining because she couldn't get her way all the time.

"Nothing is wrong." Brushing him off she turned quickly to walk to the back of the line only to get grabbed the elbow again.

"Wrong answer beautiful no one frowns like that over a vase."

With an exasperated sigh she shook her head. " I really don't want to get into this especially here of all places."

"Fair enough." He plucked the vase of her hands and walked back over to the sales counter. " but I am still buy this seeing as it is still going to reside in my apartment for the time being."

Rukia opened her mouth then closed her mouth then opened it again trying to get the proper words out but somehow she knew she wasn't going to win. "Fine" She muttered

Shuuhei was starting to become one of the most aggravating men she had ever meet short of her Nii-sama and Renji she could honestly say she didn't know anybody with a harder head . Suppressing the urge to let out a silent huff she pursued her lips . He was hard headed and stubborn not only that he was a habitual flirt . She couldn't help the frown that was now spreading across her lips as she watched the simpering sales woman giggle brainlessly at him . He was also arrogant and . . . . . and Rukia was grasping at straws to try to find a way to be mad at him now.

Rukia watched in stoic silence as the woman behind the cash register simpered and flirted with Shuuhei flipping her hair over her shoulders and batting her eyelashes like she had a spastic twitch. Some days it amazed Rukia that women like that could last , but then again beautiful women like her snagged men like Shuuhei and would never have to worry about anything again.

Wow Rukia thought to herself that was a really dismal way of thinking even for her because in all honesty she couldn't fault the woman for using what she had . Rukia herself did the same thing . She was a warrior a descent one at that but she was not above using the Kuchiki name anymore to gain some respect in some circles . So in the end a girl had to do what girl had to do. Now that was a dismal thought.

"You ready Beautiful?"

For the second time that day Shuuhei's voice yanked her out of her less than positive thought process.

Turning around she gave him a cat like smile.

"I'm ready if your done flirting."

Look of pure bewilderment settled into Shuuhei's face as he furrowed his eyebrow's slightly. "I was flirting?"

Rukia couldn't help but shake her head as she reached for his hand to drag him out of the store " You really are clueless aren't you."

Again the confused look remained placed on his face. " I was just being nice ."

Stepping onto the main street Rukia couldn't help snort at the man's cluelessness. " She had a spastic twitch flipping her hair around her shoulders and it looked like she had something in her eye she was batting them so much at you." Not bothering to let go of his hand she let out the exasperated sigh of a women well versed in dealing with men who had no clue what they did to the opposite sex. " And don't get me started on the giggling."

"I think you are looking too far into things." Shuuhei adjusted the bags in his hand with an amused smile. " And I also think you are trying to avoid telling me why you were so dejected about the vase."

"Do we really have to go there" She couldn't help the whine that come out because this was really not a conversation she wanted to have with him or with anyone for that matter.

"Well yeah because now I'm more curious than ever that a simple vase can evoke so much emotion."

The concern that started to flood behind his beautiful eyes was Rukia's undoing because for some reason she got the queer feeling she could tell the man anything.

"Fine." She looked up at him pointing the index finer of her free hand up at him " But you are not allowed to judge me on this one."

Shrugging his broad shoulders he nodded " Fair enough." There was a long pregnant pause "But am I allowed to interject anything?"

She paused to think about this request for a long moment trying to stall the inevitable " At the very end you may speak."

Shuuhei just chuckled and Rukia could only hope to surmise that it at her formal instruction.

"I conceded because even though I love the vase and think it looks lovely it would get better use in your apartment."

Shuuhei frowned " You already told me this . I want to know what made you think this way when you first so adamant about getting it."

This was a secret Rukia really didn't want to let go of. The in's and out's of the Kuchiki manor were usually kept very quiet.

"Fine, I wanted the vase for my room at home."

Shuuhei opened his mouth only to have her give him a withering glair " Remember I said no questions."

Shrugging again he closed his mouth obediently

"I didn't want it for my desk at work , besides you most of all know we have to keep our personal affects to a minimum. I wanted it for my room at home." Rukia couldn't help the brittle smile that started to form. " But I am not allowed to have anything that garish or unseemly, and it's not because Nii-sama won't allow it because god knows he allows me my taste's even if it doesn't necessarily agree with his. It's because the family won't allow it. If I were to take it home I would put it in my window seal so the light could catch it , but with it being in the window it would be easily visible from outside the house and nothing , and I mean nothing is allowed affect the pristine façade of the house.." Shaking her head she let out a soft sigh . " It's not just the outside of the house though . Nii-sama and I are not allowed to have anything less than what the family considers appropriate in any room's deemed to be common ones that people could possibly see. You see we like our great room and dining room the way it is it's understated nature is very much a resemblance of Nii-sama, but we have both tried to put up calligraphy in the halls or a flower arrangement only to find out that one of the aunts thought that it was less than perfect and it was never seen again. You see Nii-sama grew up like this so it is all he knows ."

Taking her hand out of his she wrapped her arms around herself almost trying to ward off the sadness that was starting to envelope her.

"But god Shuuhei." She couldn't help but look up at him now. " I miss the color's ."

It wasn't all she missed but that was another story for another less tender time.

Returning her gaze to the crowd that milled around them she let the silence stretch out as long as it would carry.

"I had no idea."

The lack of pity in the mans voice shocked her. She expected pity or indignation but simplicity was something that she didn't expect.

"If you would like and if it would make you feel better you can put the vase in one of the windows of my condo so when ever you are in the human world you will be able to have a little color in your life."

"You make it sound like you would allow me a permanent place to stay when I do missions in the real world?"

Retaking her hand in his her tilted his lip up into a quirk of a smile " If it will keep you from sleeping in a closet than yes , you have a permanent place to stay."

**Pleae R& R and tell me what you think **


	10. Chapter 10

Okay let me just start this little note with an im sorry . This year has been completely nuts for me . I was in fact getting married what would have been Dec 1st and a few months before the wedding my world imploded when the groom called the wedding off after a small altercation . So I spent the first half of my year planning a wedding and the third quarter dismantling it . ( I have a wedding dress for sale if anyone is interested)

Now on to my stories they are not discontinued a slight hiatus maybe it's been so long since I have written anything im just trying to get the hang of things again,

so please bear with me

I might even put up some none mushy lovy dovy stuff only because I am still a little bitter , and if you guys could support me in reading and reviewing those too I would greatly appreciate it .

**Changing of the Guard** is a story that I am going to start to update regularly basically because I love that story it's my baby

**We All Want the Same Thing** may take me alittle longer to get back into

And as for **What Dreams May Come** well you know I up that when inspiration hits, but if anyone is interested in me putting up another chap send me a PM

Thank you guys so much for the support you have given in my writing

blackbubbledancer


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